


Surrender

by KaRaEa



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: AU, Anxiety Attacks, Canon divergent from Civil War, Canon-Typical Violence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, M/M, Medical Procedures, Panic Attacks, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2018-05-21 07:48:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 31
Words: 84,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6043822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaRaEa/pseuds/KaRaEa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>/No. This couldn't be happening. Couldn't have happened. He hadn't-<br/>Shit.<br/>Bucky looked down at the sobbing waitress and he couldn't breathe. He tried to push out an apology, he has no idea whether he managed it, before Steve was pulling him away.<br/>They made it back to the hotel without being followed and Steve sat him down, told him to breathe. Told him it wasn't his fault.<br/>Shit.<br/>It was his fault. It really was this time. He could blame it on residual conditioning all he liked, but he hurt that woman. Might have killed her if Steve wasn't there. <br/>His metal fingers flexed as he took deep breaths and tried to tune out the memories./</p>
<p>"I want to turn myself in."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first published attempt at this fandom but I needed to release some related angst. Please be kind but don't hesitate to give me tips if something is off, I've only really the movies and some incredibly geeky friends to go off.
> 
> I'm of the opinion that neither side is right or wrong in Civil War and the story will eventually reflect that, however the characters obviously have other views and they are stubborn assholes. Please don't take any characters' bad (At first) opinions of other characters as my own. I love them all

_No. This couldn't be happening. Couldn't have happened. He hadn't-_

_Shit._

_Bucky looked down at the sobbing waitress and he couldn't breathe. He tried to push out an apology, he has no idea whether he managed it, before Steve was pulling him away._

_They made it back to the hotel without being followed and Steve sat him down, told him to breathe. Told him it wasn't his fault._

_Shit._

_It was his fault. It really was this time. He could blame it on residual conditioning all he liked, but he hurt that woman. Might have killed her if Steve wasn't there._

_His metal fingers flexed as he took deep breaths and tried to tune out the memories._

"I want to turn myself in."

Tony turned, eyes wide, darting towards all the exits, over the broken glass of the workshop door. There was no way he could get out in time, the suit was in pieces on the worktable as he fixed a dent in the right shoulder joint, caused by a certain shield, that was limiting movement.

Bucky stood still, not making an effort to appear either threatening or non-threatening. He needed this to play out.

"How'd you get in here?" Tony blurted out. Sure, his new systems weren't quite up to the speed JARVIS had been, but at the very least he should have been alerted to the fact a that super assassin who wanted to kill him had entered the building.

Bucky's eyes trailed over the broken glass and he raised his eyebrows.

"Breaking and entering. Got it. Still shouldn't be possible," Tony pointed out. "Now what the hell are you here for? 'Cause I'm assuming if it was solely to kill me I'd already be jam smeared across the walls."

"I want to turn myself in," Bucky repeated, voice slowing down mockingly.

"Riiiiiiight," Tony glanced again at his dismembered suit. He could call another one, but not without alerting Barnes.

"I'm not going to hurt you, that would defeat the point of handing myself over," Bucky belatedly assured him. "Just... Lock me up. Put me somewhere I can't hurt people. Or kill me. I don't care."

Tony snorted bitterly. "Even if I was a murderer," He relished the way Bucky flinched at the word. Yeah, murderer. "A certain Captain we both know would have a thing or two to say about your death. With his fists."

"I didn't think you were afraid of him," Bucky said, voice pressing, mocking, provoking.

"Please, I'm narcissistic, not stupid." Tony wondered if this was a distraction, if Steve was running around somewhere planting bombs.

Bucky shifted impatiently. Time to try a different tack. "You were his friend. He wouldn't hurt you."

"I have two broken ribs and a bruised shoulder blade that would say different."

"You'll heal."

Tense silence settled over the workshop for a moment before Bucky sighed and forced his shoulders to relax a little. "Would you just do it. You've got one of those repulser things two feet from your hand."

Tony studied him a moment. Deciding there wasn't much he could do but play along for now, he slumped back into the office chair next to him and gestured to the worktable. "Sit down."

Bucky's jaw clenched, his fists tightening, but he did as he was told.

"If I'm gonna take you in I need to make sure you're a little less capable of slaughtering all the security assigned to you," Tony explained, picking up some of the tools he used to work on the armour and holding out his hand expectantly. They'd soon see how determined Barnes was to keep this going.

Bucky didn't move. "You're going to need to strap me down."

"I thought you were playing nice?"

"I can't-" Bucky cut himself off, fighting to find the words to explain. "I have flashbacks. I won't be able to stop myself."

Ah. PTSD. Now that Tony could understand. "I'm not sure I have Winter Soldier resistant straps handy. Will you let me sedate you?"

Bucky forced himself to nod.

"Okay then, let’s get started."

 

When Bucky wakes up, he's in a bed. Quite a comfortable bed, and he can't work out how that could have happened. He reaches up and runs his flesh fingers over the point where the needle had gone in, already healed. He should be in a holding cell by now. A glance to the side confirms his mechanical arm is still there. He frowns, flexing it.

“I did some fine tuning. There’s no more strength in that arm that a regular one now. Less, it’s only functional enough that you can use it for day to day stuff,” Stark’s voice comes from nowhere, “Try to hurt anyone with it and it’ll go offline completely.”

“Where am I?” Bucky asks.

“In the tower still. I got Bruce’s permission to hold you in his rooms until I can get something more permanent fixed up. They’re hulk proof and they’re in lockdown mode. You’re not going anywhere,” Stark replies. “Hope you’re serious about that whole surrender thing.”

“I am.”

“Good. There’ll be agents from various government entities here to take your statement shortly.”

Bucky stands and examines his surroundings. Comfy. There’s a soothing scent in the air he can’t place. “Why am I here?”

There’s a pause before Stark answers. “You mean why here instead of in some cell somewhere?”

Bucky nods and trusts that Stark can see it from wherever he is.

“Back in the days of SHIELD who knows where you’d have been, but now? There are too many agencies fighting over your custody and I don’t know a single one of them well enough to let them have you. So you’re staying in Avenger custody, so to speak. As for the rest, they’ll have access but not authority. At least until your trial,” Stark explains, “Then I make no promises.”

“But…” Bucky blinks rapidly, processing, “What about the register? Steve said you wanted to lock me up, let them execute me.”

“You are locked up. And you will sign the register. And you will stay locked up until I and the various governing bodies of America deem you safe,” Stark’s voice is full of barely repressed anger, “Steve may not have trusted me enough to let me deal with this, but I never meant you any harm. I just don’t want you hurting people.”

It’s easy to see that Steve is a sore spot. That doesn’t stop Bucky from pushing. “So why’d Steve think you were gonna hand me over?”

Another pause. Then, “I may have implied that I was considering it. He didn’t bother talking through the alternatives.”

“He didn’t trust you. Yeah, I got that part. Why didn’t he trust you?” Bucky presses.

Stark doesn’t answer.

 

Tony turns the feed off and rubs his eyes vigorously. A few deep breaths and he manages to blink past the pressure blindness and go back to repairing the suit. After the beating it took it’s taking longer than he’d like. He’s already hooked up another suit ready to be called by gesture, can’t be too safe living with a super assassin, and he’s almost through with the physical repairs. One last joint to press the ding out of and fix the wiring in and then it was onto software recalibrations to compensate for the new weak spots. Diagnostics. Testing. All too quiet without JARVIS bantering with him in the background.

Without Pepper, JARVIS or Steve to tell him to take a break he’s been working on repairs and designing the next upgrade since he first got back to the tower. The only pause being to deal with the Winter Soldier. And wasn’t that just the shit-stained cherry on top of a crappy week. Confronting the second man to try to rip his heart out, albeit an external one this time, in his own lab with no real protection.

That reminds him to go over the security and figure out how the hell Barnes got in without Tony even knowing about it, and he turns away from the scattered pieces of the suit to call up the holograms.

It’s hours later when he re-emerges, head aching and eyes burning from staring at the displays, and none the wiser for it. It’s frustrating enough that he almost goes to ask Barnes about it directly, but the result of their earlier conversation puts paid to that urge. No way in hell he’s talking to the guy again until he has to.

The busybodies have already come and gone according the post-its Bruce has left stuck to the coffee machine, and Tony breathes a little easier for it. No disastrous escape or rescue attempts so far, though he doesn’t kid himself that that will last. Even if Barnes is genuine in his surrender, that won’t stop the good Captain from breaking every door, wall, window and bone in his way to get Barnes out.

Tony rubs at his chest absent mindedly as he gulps down his coffee. He has no idea what they’ll do with Barnes long term, presuming they manage to foil the rescue a broken magic eight ball could see coming and fend off a death sentence from the supreme court. Yes, he could build another Hulk proof set of rooms for Barnes, but the danger that would put the small remains of his team in gave Tony more than a little pause. And while he was confident in his ability to fend off the various agencies and armed forces wanting to take custody of the Winter Soldier, he wasn’t so sure it would hold up when he constantly had Captain America breaking in.

He needs advice. Not from Rhodey or Pepper who would just tell him to hand the guy over out of concern for Tony, but from someone who’d made a career of making choices like this. He’d go visit this weekend.

“Sir, Sergeant Barnes is requesting assistance,” JOCASTA interrupts, and Tony feels a twinge of grief as he always does when his new AI speaks instead of his old one.

“Tell him he can wait. I’m still busy fixing the damage he and his boyfriend caused to my suit,” Tony replies.

“Sergeant Barnes appears to have had a PTSD related episode and has damaged himself attempting to leave Dr. Banner’s rooms.” JOCASTA lacks that judgmental tone JARVIS always had, but she does manage to sound softly insistent. She’s not quite developed a personality yet unlike FRIDAY, (who has recently been nicknamed Ziggy as she has the ego for it), but she’s only been fully online a week. Tony’s sure she’ll get there in the end.

“Hurt, Jo, he’s human. So he’s hurt, not damaged,” Tony corrects, still not making a move to answer Barnes’ call.

“It is his mechanical arm that has been… Hurt,” JOCASTA answers serenely, and Tony maybe takes it back about judgmental because that sounded suspiciously like she was arguing with him. “He is in distress. He may further injure himself.”

Tony curses under his breath. “Fine. Pump in some sedative. I’ll be there in a minute.” Too damn philanthropic for his own good.

He’s only three quarters of the way through the repairs when Barnes wakes up, mechanical arm thankfully still disabled but flesh arm still managing to knock Tony across the room.

Tony groans and pulls himself upright, “Jo, next time I ask you to sedate Sergeant Barnes remember to compensate for super assassin metabolism.”

“I am sorry, Sir. You did not specify that it was to render Sergeant Barnes unconscious for the duration.”

“What the hell else would it be for?” Tony snaps, because really. He knows he programmed her smarter than that.

Barnes is looking around in apparent terror. “Your computer can contaminate the air supply?”

“Yeah, but she’s not evil. I don’t think,” Tony reassures him, half assing it because hey, maybe the guy deserves a little terror after he tried to rip the damn arc reactor off. Tony hadn’t been that scared in a long time, and he has chronic anxiety these days. “She loves me at least, so she won’t poison us. Right, Jo?”

“I am unable to form emotional attachments, Sir.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Tony makes his way back over to Barnes and the tools, a little more confident of not being killed now that Barnes seems wary of JOCASTA. She’s got the full Asimov programming, first of his babies to have it, but Barnes doesn’t know that. Probably doesn’t even know who Asimov was. Either way, he only flinches a little when Tony sets back in to repair his metal fingers which are spasming from the connections he ripped through trying to destroy a Hulk proof apartment.

Barnes should just be thankful it was JOCASTA he called a computer and not FRIDAY or he’d be listening to a detailed description and definition of advanced artificial intelligence. For the average joe it was probably a much better sedative that whatever JOCASTA had used.

“Is that her name?”

Tony grunts questioningly.

“The computer. You called her Jo,” Bucky explains.

“Yeah, kinda. She’s called JOCASTA,” Tony answers, mind still on the wires.

“Does she think?”

Here Tony pauses. “Think? Sure, she can think. She’s an A.I.”

Bucky nods, “What does she think about me? Does she think I’m a threat?”

A shrug. “Ask her.”

“Jocasta?” Bucky asks the ceiling.

“You have made no attempts to injure Dr. Stark, Dr. Banner or Agent Romanov since your arrival. However your previous behaviour indicates that this could change at any time. You are a threat,” JOCASTA summarises.

“What happens if I try to hurt them?” Bucky asks.

“Emergency procedures will be initiated.”

“Emergency procedures?”

Tony shook his head, “She can’t tell you more than that, you might use it against us.”

“I read a story once,” Bucky starts after a pause.

“Good for you,” Tony snaps distractedly. He just wants to get this done and get back to his workshop dammit. He does not need bonding time with a guy that tried to kill him.

“It was about this robot. It could think, too,” Bucky continues, blanking him.

“JOCASTA’s not a robot.”

Bucky rolls his eyes, “I know. But she’s still a machine that can think, right?”

Tony grumbles under his breath.

“This robot could read minds.”

“JOCASTA can’t. She can do biometric scans and stuff, but no telepathy. Right, I think we’re all done here,” Tony packs together all the tools he brought as looks at the door. “You’re not gonna bolt if I open the door to get out?”

Bucky shook his head.

“Good.”

“Howard told me machines couldn’t think. He said it was impossible,” Bucky says as he reaches the door.

That stops Tony cold as any mention of dear old dad does. He spins. “Don’t talk about him.”

“Why not? He was a jerk, but he was your dad.”

Tony forces himself to take deep breaths. “Yeah, he was. And you killed him.”

Bucky’s face falls. “I didn’t know. I-I don’t remember.”

“Sir, Sergeant Barnes’ pulse is elevated. For your safety, you should exit the room.” JOCASTA advises.

“Shit,” Tony says resignedly as Bucky’s eyes go unfocussed and his hands start clenching and unclenching rhythmically. “Barnes. Bucky. Take some deep breaths, alright? Come on, with me. In,” He breathes in exaggeratedly, “And out.”

Barnes isn’t paying him any attention, drawing in on himself defensively as his breathing becomes harsh and desperate.

“Shit,” Tony repeats. He daren’t get any closer but he doesn’t retreat. “C’mon, Bucky. Tell me about the robot in the story. What was the story, Bucky? Tell me the name.”

Bucky stares helplessly at him for a moment, managing to focus for just a few seconds.

“What’s the story called, Bucky?”

“L-Liar,” Bucky gasps.

“Okay, cool. Not a name you’d guess for a robot story,” Tony said, shaking his head inwardly because apparently Asimov wasn’t so unknown to Barnes after all. “Did the robot have a name?”

“I can’t- can’t remember.”

Tony nods reassuringly. “That’s fine. Do you remember who wrote it?”

Bucky shakes his head, but his breathing is a little steadier as he concentrates. “Read it in a magazine.”

“Cool. What kind of magazine?”

Bucky frowns, “’Bout science fiction. Stevie said I was a geek when he caught me reading it.”

“I always got the impression it was the other way around,” Tony says, genuinely a little surprised.

Bucky smiles a little brokenly. “Most people did. Tiny little art student like Steve. But he was always thinkin’ of the world we already live in… how to make it better. Not stupid stuff that might never happen.”

Tony shakes his head and flails for a way to change the subject. “So what happens in the story?”

Bucky frowns in concentration.

“Sergeant Barnes’ pulse rate is still elevated but in acceptable parameters,” JOCASTA chimes in.

Bucky looks around wild eyed, panic setting in again.

“The story, Bucky. What happens in the story?” Tony repeats quickly. “What happens to the robot?”

“It-it,” Bucky keeps looking around, no longer focused on Tony, “Um, it dies. I think.”

“Sad story,” Tony observes. Of course, he knows the story by heart and robots can’t actually die as such, but he doesn’t mention that to Barnes. Barnes needs to concentrate. “How does it die?”

Bucky shakes his head.

“You don’t remember?”

Another head shake.

“What about a different story. Where there any others in your magazine?” Tony tries.

“No. Yes. Yes, but I can’t…” Bucky trails off miserably.

Tony bites back another curse. Hydra really did mess with the guy’s noggin. Objectively he knew that already. Hell, subjectively he knew some of it. But the guy was in pieces. “That’s okay, Bucky. That’s fine. How about I try and find you a copy? You can read them all over again. Might even kick up some other memories.”

Bucky nods.

With a sigh, Tony decides to give a little. “Hey Barnes? Do you remember at all the law of robotics in the story?”

“He couldn’t hurt humans,” Bucky says after a moment.

“Yeah, that one. JOCASTA can’t either. She can knock you out with sedatives, do her best to keep you locked up in here, but she can’t hurt you,” Tony explains. “She’s mostly here to help me run this joint. You may have noticed it’s pretty huge and pretty complicated. She’s like a butler. Or a housekeeper.”

Tony can’t really tell, but he’d like to think Barnes looks a little less tense after that. He won’t go into the subroutines that would grant FRIDAY access to the house if anyone’s life was in danger. That would just mess things up even more. Hell, sometimes Tony was confused about that one. He’d programmed it all in a haze of grief and self-loathing after the Ultron shit went down.

He waits a few more minutes, babbling on about the laws of robotics, and how he views them as optional but sometimes useful in terms Barnes’ is probably too out of it to understand even if he wasn’t a layman from 1940s. When it seems like the guy is mostly back to himself, just moody and depressed, Tony makes an exit, telling him the kitchen will be fully stocked and unlocked now if he wants to grab something to eat.

Barnes doesn’t answer.

“Alright. Well. See you around I guess. Seeing as this is where I live and all,” Tony awkwardly fumbles out before shutting the door behind him. He takes a breath and makes his way back to the workshop. “Jo, get the hulkproof system back online.”

“Yes, sir.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to note that chapters will vary in length a fair amount and though I aim to update weekly and I have nearly two chapters ready past this, my internet access can be patchy so it may not always be the same day. I love writing these guys and hearing what you guys think though, it's like crack after creative writing classes full of alcoholic, maudlin poets we have to try to emulate; so you can be sure I'm not going to ditch on you.
> 
> Please let me know what you think!

Bucky doesn’t go to the kitchen. Not yet anyway. Doesn’t think he could keep it down if he tried to eat.

He hadn’t remembered killing the Starks until Tony had mentioned it, then he relived it in vivid technicolour, only Tony’s voice pulling him out of the memory every now and then. He wouldn’t call Howard a friend, but he was one of the guys. He’d flown Steve in on that original rescue, helped out the Howling Commandoes several times since. He owed the guy his life a few times over.

And he’d killed him.

Howard’s wife as well, nearly his son. And that last one he couldn’t even blame Hydra for.

Tony had stood there, talking to him about some dumb science fiction story to calm him down while Bucky relived the tacky, warm feeling of Howard’s blood on his skin. Tony’s father’s blood. But Tony hadn’t left, even though he probably should have.

Bucky feels confused and grateful and irrationally angry at Tony for making him relive it and then staying to help him through the memory. In fact, confusion, gratitude and anger are a mix he’s fast learning to associate with the sarcastic asshole who has offered him asylum.

Tony doesn’t look at him like a victim, doesn’t shy away from the awful things he’d done as the Winter Soldier or try to calm him down with careful, well-meaning platitudes and false reminders that he’s a good man. Tony understands that he’s dangerous, and that he isn’t really Bucky Barnes anymore. He isn’t like Clint, he didn’t snap out of it and go back to being the person he was before, a part of him will always be the Winter Soldier. He’ll always find it easier to break someone’s arm than ask them to let go, always have that almost compulsive need to finish every task with exacting efficiency, no matter how irrelevant. Always be missing memories and feelings that Bucky Barnes should have. Tony doesn’t expect him to be good, and it’s painful but so relieving after Steve’s undeserved, unwavering faith in him.

It makes him wince because he loves Steve, he really does, even as this half person he is now, but a big part of him wonders if it wouldn’t have been better if Tony had been the one to find him.

 

Tony sits in the workshop doing nothing. Well, not nothing, in here it’s almost impossible for him to do absolutely nothing for any real length of time. But nothing important. He fiddles with the prototype for a discarded upgrade to Natasha’s widow’s bites absently while he half watches the security feed from Bruce’s rooms. He’s too deeply invested in his thoughts to focus on important stuff.

He knew the moment Bucky started having the flashback or panic attack or whatever it was that he was screwed. If he couldn’t even leave the guy to freak out alone how the hell did he think he could ever turn the guy over to government cronies? Even with a Supreme Court judgement they’d have to take Bucky to the electric chair over his cold dead body and the dismantled and corrupted mass of the emergency protocols he had in place to protect Bruce already.

Incidentally, Hulk proof didn’t just mean able to stand up to the Hulk, it also meant able to stand up to anyone who wanted to kill, kidnap or otherwise interfere with the Hulk. Those rooms were capable of complete lockdown and, when FRIDAY was activated, offensive protocols. Tony didn’t take protecting his friends lightly, and he was all too aware of Bruce’s tentative position as host to a huge, green rage monster that had already been on the hit list of several government agencies.

Point being, anyone who wanted to take Bucky would get a face full of private SI military grade defense systems. Scratch that. Tony grade. Because his stuff was way better than any shit a military contractor had ever pumped out, even the stuff he himself had pumped out with SI pre-Afghanistan.

He couldn’t wait for the weekend. He had to go now and just hope she was having a good day.

 

Tony doesn’t get past “Hi Aunt Peg,” Before Steve’s tackling him to the floor and raising a fist to punch him in the face. He doesn’t get the chance to lower said fist, Natasha has a knife pressed to his throat before it’s fully raised.

Steve snarls, only his lack of movement indicating that he’s even noticed Natasha. He has more important things to worry about. “What the hell are you doing here, Stark? She’s just an old lady, surely even you wouldn’t stoop low enough to use her.”

Tony glares back.

“Steve, kindly remove yourself from my godson. Whatever quarrels you have don’t enter this room, understood?” Peggy’s voice is a little breathless but firm as ever. More lucid than she’d been for the past three hours.

With a startled look back at the bed, Steve does as he was told. “Godson?”

“What? Did you think she sat around on her own for over half a century and never led her own life?” Tony pulls himself back to stand shoulder to shoulder with Natasha. “I’m Howard’s son, she was his friend. Of course she’s my godmother.”

Steve feels a little more of his world crumble. He’d never thought about it, that Tony would know Peggy. That she and Howard had been friends after he… After. In that moment he wants to kill Tony more genuinely than ever. The bastard had taken Bucky, had made Steve a vigilante, put him on the run, and now he’s laying claim to the one person Steve had left from his life in the forties.

“Maybe you boys should sit down and tell me what the hell is going on?” Peggy speaks again, and there’s no mistaking the order.

Steve sits back down in the chair beside the bed, still warm from his two day long residence in it.

Tony sits on the bed.

He’d punch the disrespectful asshole, but Peggy’s smiling as Tony grasps her hand and tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. She looks more relaxed than Steve’s ever seen her. Peggy reaches out with her other hand for Steve and Tony looks mutinous. Steve suppresses a triumphant grin.

“Natalia dear, would you make sure no one eavesdrops? I imagine some of this is sensitive information,” Peggy asks, and Natasha nods with a small smile and leaves the room. Peggy turns her attention back to Steve and Tony. “Who’s going to start?”

“You know Natasha as well?” Steve asks.

“Duh, Aunt Peg founded SHEILD-“

“Do let me answer for myself, Tony,” Peggy interrupts. “Yes, I know her quite well. I was there when she defected and I ran into her quite a number of times before then. She’s older than she looks.”

That was something Steve definitely wants to know more about, and from the look on Tony’s face he isn’t the only one. But it isn’t a top priority. Peggy likely wouldn’t be lucid for long, and more pressing issues came first.

“Do you remember about the register?” Tony asks.

Peggy looks confused for a moment before her expression clears. “Yes, I seem to remember some agenda General Ross was pushing.”

“Well, it’s all about that. I’m for, Steve is vehemently against. It got ugly,” Tony explains lightly. “Bucky’s back, Ross wants him convicted for all the shit that went down with S.H.E.I.L.D, Steve thinks ‘cause I agree with Ross on some things, I agree with him on all things.”

To Steve’s admiration, Peggy seems to follow this with little confusion. “Bucky? Bucky Barnes?”

Tony’s voice gentles, “Yeah, Aunt Peg. He’s the Winter Soldier, remember?”

Peggy squeezes her eyes shut for a moment and when she opens them she looks upset but determined.

“Do you need to rest for a little while?” Steve asks.

She shakes her head. “So you boys are at each other’s throats instead of talking to each other? Did you ever think perhaps this was what Ross wanted?”

“What he…?” Tony frowns and Steve echoes the expression.

“Tell me, what do you think the motivation behind the register is?” Peggy asks.

 “It’s the same thing they tried to pull in the war. The same thing I’ve been fighting against since nineteen-forty-five. If they can register us, they can round us up, they can scare us, they can control us. They can dispose of us,” Steve says bitterly.

“That’s what you think this is about? That’s what you think I agreed to?” Tony splutters. “This isn’t about cleansing the population, okay? It’s about making sure crap like Ultron and Extremis and Red Skull can’t happen again! It’s about stopping us from making that kind of mistake. Making sure no one with that level of power is left unchecked. It’s like… It’s like gun control.”

Steve snorts. “Gun control? We’re not weapons! Your tech may be something you can take off and put away, but for the rest of us it’s who we are. We couldn’t choose to be normal if we wanted to. Why should we have to register? Tell the world who we are, where we are. Like we’re dangerous.”

“Because we _are_ dangerous!” Tony snaps.

They glare at each other and Steve would be throwing punches right now if they weren’t in Peggy’s home.

“Alright then.” Peggy claps her hands together softly. “Do we all agree that General Ross is unlikely to mean you all the best in this?”

Tony shrugs. “He’s not the only one behind it, or the only one who’ll regulate it. I don’t really give a crap what his motivations are.”

“I think it’s highly unlikely that a man like General Ross has no ulterior motives or plans with which to fulfil them,” Peggy points out. “He wants you all gone and he can’t do it himself…”

“So he’s getting us to do it for him,” Tony fills in skeptically. “Which would make sense if the collateral damage wouldn’t hurt the people he says he’s trying to protect.”

“Collateral damage that would insure everyone is scared of us,” Steve says quietly. It makes sense. Hell, if Steve was Ross it’s what he’d do. Set them against each other, let them prove to the world how dangerous they are. After that the world would thank him for locking up every last one of them that survived.

Tony glances between them both. “Shit! Sneaky bastard.”

Peggy raises an eyebrow.

Steve sighs.

“So are you going to talk this through and reach a compromise, or are you going to rip the world apart because you refuse to communicate?” Peggy looks at them both.

“It’s not that simple,” Steve argues.

“For once I agree with soldier boy. Do you think we haven’t talked about this? There isn’t a middle ground. There’s no compromise we can make. One of us has to surrender, and we’re both stubborn assholes,” Tony agrees.

“I would fix this situation myself, but I’m afraid by the time I’ve had a cup of tea I’ll have forgotten the whole mess.” Peggy smiles as she says it, but the pain and fear in her eyes is enough to have Steve and Tony reaching for her at the same time. “I’m alright. I just wish I could be of more use,” She reassures them. “Now, if I can trust you both not to kill each other, at least for the time being, then I think I need to rest.”

Tony met Steve’s eyes and Steve nodded. At least for the time being.

“Okay. I’ll be back soon Aunt Peggy.” Tony leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek before leaving.

Steve sat still until the door closed behind Tony’s back. “He’s reckless, egotistical and never thinks beyond himself.”

Peggy smiles again. “I’ll give you the first, and probably the second. But you’re wrong about the third.”

“I know he wants to help people, I’m not blind. But he only thinks in terms of himself. He doesn’t want another Ultron to happen and he wants to make someone else accountable for his actions, but he won’t even try to think about what could happen to the millions of people the register would affect. He’s always trying to fix the mistakes he’s already made instead of trying not to make another one.” Steve shakes his head. “He always thinks he’s right.”

“The point is that he doesn’t,” Peggy argues. “He knows the fundamental truth behind it all because he’s been on the other side of the line. No one, not even Hitler, believes themselves a villain. They all think they’re right, and when people with superpowers decide on something it can be damned hard to stop them, as well you know.” She grips his hand with a strength she rarely has these days. “Trust him. You don’t have to agree with him, but don’t fight him. You’re stronger together, and he’s a good man.”

Steve looks at their hands a moment. “I hope you’re right.”

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

“So I had a chat with Steve today.”

The words wake Bucky from a light doze. Tony is stood by the bedroom door, arms folded but no other sign that he feels at all vulnerable in the room with a massively enhanced assassin.

“We’ve called a temporary cease fire while we try to figure this shitfest out before we both lose,” Tony continues. “I’m thinking setting up a little reunion between you guys might help with that. I couldn’t let you go, obviously. But maybe he’ll chill out a little if he can see firsthand that I’ve not got you stuffed in a cell awaiting execution.”

Bucky can barely speak through his horror at the prospect. There’s no way he can see Steve like this. “No.”

“You don’t want a visit from your good old buddy?” Tony asks.

“I’m not who he wants,” Bucky answers.

Tony nods, seemingly unsurprised. “You’ll have to see him eventually.”

“When I’m… Better.”

“You might not get better.” Tony points out.

It wasn’t said to be cruel, Bucky knew that. It barely stung. Still, Bucky couldn’t find it in him to reply.

Tony shifts to lean against the doorframe. “What should I tell him when he asks about you?”

Bucky shrugs.

“Helpful,” Tony says. “I’m sure Steve will really appreciate that answer.”

“I can’t… I can’t deal with him right now. I can’t pretend I’m going to be okay or that I’ll remember everything someday. I can’t join in with the stupid in jokes he has coming out of his ass. I can’t even remember his goddamn birthday!” Bucky draws in on himself. “I’m not his best friend. I’m the guy that tried to kill him.”

“Who among us hasn’t tried to kill him at some point?” Tony scoffs. “The guy can be pretty annoying. Also, his birthday is July 4th. A fact that makes me want to roll my eyes hard enough to kill myself, but is also pretty hard to forget. So now you know his birthday and you’ve been accepted into the exclusive club of people who care about Steve but have none the less tried to kill him. The in jokes I can’t fix, but hey, he’s got a really bad sense of humour anyway.”

Bucky’s mouth twitches in a way that feels dangerously close to smiling.

“Come on, Barnes. Don’t let a little retrograde amnesia destroy your epic bromance. Let the guy at least see that you’re as okay as you can be instead of going through whatever extra level of hell he thinks I’ve inflicted on you,” Tony says.

Sam had called it that once. A bromance. Bucky had no idea what the hell that meant, but both times it had been said in a slightly mocking way, as if whatever the word meant wasn’t exactly what the speaker meant.

At Bucky’s silence Tony softens. “Look, you don’t have to see him. I’m not going to force someone to confront their issues, that would be completely hypocritical of me. But I will say that avoiding it won’t make anything better.”

“What if I hurt him again?”

Tony raises one shoulder. “He’s a big boy. He can take it.”

“He shouldn’t have to,” Bucky replies.

“His decision to make, don’t you think?” Tony says.

Bucky grimaces. “Probably. But it’s my decision whether I’m the one to hurt him.”

“Well, I tried. See ya later. I’ve got negotiating to do,” Tony turns to leave.

“Wait,” Bucky calls after him.

Tony pauses obligingly.

“Any way you could do your negotiating from here?” Bucky winces. He hates asking but sitting alone in the same empty rooms was driving him nuts. Tony being here is finally lifting some of the numb disconnect he felt.

Tony shoots a conflicted look at the door but stays. “Sure. Why not. Half of it is about you anyway.”

 

Tony’s almost surprised that Steve actually answers the phone to him. They’ve had an unspoken no contact rule for weeks and it had shown no signs of breaking, despite their visit with Aunt Peggy.

“Stark,” Steve’s voice sounds coolly through JOCASTA’s speakers.

Tony takes a breath. “Hey, Captain Spangles. I thought we should try again at this whole talking thing. Aunt Peggy seemed to think we had a shot at figuring it out and I’d really like not to add ‘murdered Captain America’ to my resume.”

Steve snorts almost inaudibly. “What did you have in mind?”

“Right now? Not a lot. I have no idea how we can fix this. But the first step is reaching out, right?” Tony says. He can see Barnes trying to keep it together in the background and can’t resist adding, “Bucky says hi.”

“Can I talk to him?” Steve’s voice is full of steel and restrained rage, and Tony winces at his misstep.

Barnes shakes his head frantically.

“He doesn’t feel like talking right now. But he can hear you if you have anything you want to say to him,” Tony compromises.

“Bucky?” Steve asks. “Bucky, please. I just want to know you’re okay.”

Tony can feel Barnes’s betrayed glare as much as he can see it and sighs. “Steve, he really isn’t up to small talk right now. He’s… As good as can be expected. Staying in Bruce’s rooms until I can figure something else out. We’ve had a couple of episodes, but he’s doing alright.”

“Why the hell should I believe you?”

A helpless glance at Bucky’s pale, panicked face and Tony is wracking his brain for something, anything he can tell Steve that would mean Bucky doesn’t have to talk to him. “He was telling me about his nerdy Sci Fi magazines back in the day. Says he remembers you calling him a geek.”

Steve quietens. “He liked the robots.”

“Yeah, so you can imagine how much fun he’s having here. I’m pretty sure JOCASTA’s got more conversation out of him than I have,” Tony says.

“What about the arrest warrants?”

“Dealing with it. He’s in Avenger custody. Nat, Bruce and I signed a bunch of papers and yelled at some people and now he gets to stay here until his trial,” Tony answers truthfully. It’d been rather more complicated than that at the time, especially seeing as the other, more well liked half of the Avengers had gone rogue and could no longer be counted. Letting an egomaniac, an assassin and a rage monster have custody hadn’t been appealing to most parties, but Tony had good lawyers and the remnants of S.H.E.I.L.D backing him, and there were too many parties seeking custody for anyone to come to any other consensus.

“We both know he shouldn’t be held responsible for Hydra’s actions,” Steve says.

“I’m not gonna argue, but that’s not how the law works. We don’t get to decide on our own. He gets a fair trial the same as anyone else. We argue innocent by reason of evil Nazi brainwashing, get him released to our custody while he gets his noggin sorted out, I call my army of shrinks and we’re good to go.” Tony explains, glad to finally have the opportunity to do so. Steve had point blank refused to listen before.

“Ross won’t allow that.”

“Ross can eat me. Really Steve, it’s like you don’t know me at all. Did you not see my multiple supreme court hearings?” Tony gloats.

Steve’s sigh blows slightly static through the speakers. “You’d better know what you’re doing.”

It feels like a promise when Tony says, “I do.”

A moment of silence falls before Steve speaks again. “I guess we’re finally finding compromises, huh?”

“This isn’t a compromise. It’s what I was going to do all along. You just never let me tell you so,” Tony replies sharply.

Bucky shifts uncomfortably.

Perhaps hearing him, Steve changes the subject. “Either way, it’s a start. Though we still have a whole other issue to deal with.”

“Ah yes, the small issue over the fate of our kind,” Tony says. “That’s going to be a whole lot more tricky.”

“It’s easier to register people later than it is to deregister them,” Steve points out.

“It’s easier to not let people die than it is to undead them,” Tony counters.

“I won’t agree to Ross’s scheme. It violates people’s basic human right to privacy and free will. I’m not letting that happen,” Steve says.

Tony grits his teeth. “You really weren’t paying attention to the whole Snowden thing, were you? Whatever. I’m not going to let super powered civilians walk around doing god knows what without any guidance or accountability. I don’t like Ross’s involvement, but it’s a necessary evil.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why is Ross necessary?” Steve asks.

“Because it’s his scheme. He’s coordinating it, overseeing it,” Tony answers.

“But why?” Steve presses. “Why does he have to be involved? None of us trust him. He clearly has another agenda. I’d feel a lot more comfortable if someone less obviously against us was at the helm.”

Tony thinks it through. “You, know. I think we may have just begun a compromise.”

 

Steve hangs up feeling more hope than he has since this whole thing started. Stark finally starting to be reasonable, Bucky as safe as was possible without being in Steve’s care, a truce called meaning no more friends would die. At least for now. It could still all turn to shit, but there seemed a possibility of reconciliation. He could get the Avengers back and keep Bucky.

All he has to do is trust Tony. Easier said than done after the last few months. Easier said than done in general after what happened with S.H.E.I.L.D. He may not have been a drinks after work kind of guy, but there had been people there he’d have sworn were trustworthy.

Still, Tony has yet to harm or give up Bucky. Hell, this whole time Steve has been worried sick about Bucky being in a cramped cell or being experimented on for his arm or the serum, or being interrogated, he’d been chatting about robots with Tony.

It prompts a small smile to think of Bucky’s enthusiasm for artificial intelligence, and how excited he must be to meet at least one of Tony’s creations. The number of movies and books in the genre alone was mind boggling when Steve woke up, the real life versions Tony could show… Well. Even people from this time get blown away by Tony Stark’s man made family.

“How’d it go?” Sam asks, climbing back in the stationary car with two cups of coffee.

Steve resists the urge to shrug as Sam hands him one of the cups. “Well. I think. Better than anything we’ve managed before, anyway.”

“And your boy?” Sam takes a nonchalant sip of his coffee, the affect somewhat ruined by his grimace as his tongue meetst the too hot liquid.

Turning the cup around in his hands, Steve squints up into the sky. “Stark says he’s safe. He’s keeping him in Bruce’s rooms under Avenger custody.”

Sam pulls a face. “Avengers? Can they even be the Avengers without you and Clint?”

This time Steve does shrug. “Whatever works is fine by me. The team’s hands are better than any others we could have hoped for. Stark says he has his lawyers working on an innocent plea for Bucky’s trial.”

“You believe him?”

“I don’t know. I think so. I think he’s serious about wanting Bucky to have a fair trial. They’ve been…” Steve pulls a face of his own, “Chatting. Bucky was in the room while Stark talked to me. He just didn’t want to join in.”

Sam looked equal parts shocked and outraged. “Bucky’s been buddying up to Stark? After everything that’s happened?”

Steve remembers how close he’d got to doing the same back when they were still a team. “Stark has this way of talking when everything’s wrong. He makes light of everything. Like no matter what’s going on or how bad it is, it doesn’t matter to him.”

“Sounds annoying.”

“It is. More than you know. But it’s also… Comforting. I guess Bucky needs that right now, someone who can make him feel like they’ve got better things to think about than him and his past.” Steve takes a sip of coffee, doing his best to relax back into the seat. The stress and lack of sleep are catching up now that there’s a potential end in sight and he needs to take what moments he can get to carry him through.

Sam doesn’t mention that they only have fifteen minutes to pick up Wanda and Sharon from the meeting point. “You really were friends, huh? You and Stark?”

It takes more thought that it should to come up with an answer to that question. “Something like that, yeah. We never agreed on much, though. Different life experiences I guess.”

“You can say that again. Not sure it gets much different,” Sam snorts.

“And yet here we are. We got to very similar places in life, and we may be on opposite sides of this thing, but we’re both doing what we are for the same reasons,” Steve says.

“Not what you were saying two days ago.” Sam studies his face. “But I’m glad you guys found some even ground. This thing was getting bloody and it was only going to get worse.”

“Yeah.” Steve puts his drink in the holder and puts the car in gear.

 

Sharon is grim faced as she climbs in the car, Wanda trailing after her, looking uncomfortable in a pinstriped suit. “We have a problem.”

Steve breathes out. He knew whatever good he’d achieved in his talk with Tony would be short lived.

“Ross has got ahold of an old Red Room colleague of Natasha’s. Also has connections with HYDRA but they feel the risk is worth the benefit.” Sharon hesitates.

“Benefit? What possible benefit could a HYDRA assassin bring to the US armed forces?” Steve asks, though the sinking feeling in his gut told him he’d be better off not knowing.

“One HYDRA assassin against another,” Sharon replies. “They don’t trust Stark with Bucky. Not now he’s claimed custody. Ross was relying on Stark’s support, he thought he’d hand Bucky over, so when Stark set him up in Avengers tower and refused Ross access it made him nervous. He wants to take out Bucky before Stark can utilize him.”

“What about Stark, Banner and Natasha? One assassin can’t take all of them out,” Sam says.

Sharon tilts her head. “He doesn’t think they’ll get involved. Banner is in New Jersey with Romanoff tracking down some kid they want on the register. Vision is loyal to Stark, and War Machine is a government asset. He’s betting on Stark figuring it out and standing back rather than putting himself and his company at risk. Stark can’t afford to be against us and Ross at the same time.”

It’s taking all of Steve’s concentration to keep driving away from Avengers tower but for once he knows better than to go storming in. “Stark wouldn’t just let Bucky be killed.”

“Clearly you don’t know Tony very well,” Sharon answers. “You know, pre Afghanistan no one could have seen Iron Man coming. He was a war monger. He was proud of the weapons he made.”

Wanda’s face was nearly blank, but she nodded a little along with Sharon’s words.

“Stark is no innocent, no matter what Aunt Peggy likes to think,” Sharon finishes.

Steve can’t help the doubts that creep back in. Would Stark really put everything and everyone he had at risk to protect the man who had killed his parents? Until today, he hadn’t had a single doubt that Stark would hand Bucky over to the first person to ask, and even knowing what he knows now he still has his suspicions on his motivations for keeping Bucky. “We need a plan. Avengers tower has the most advanced security system in the country. We’re not getting in and out easy.”

“Stark didn’t design the system to keep you out,” Sharon points out. “He’s not had enough time to redo the systems and the old ones won’t pose a threat to any of you. We just better hope the same doesn’t go for Ross’s assassin.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updating early so my Uni work doesn't get in the way and also so any reviews you care to leave me can motivate me through my revision. As it is an early update it is liable to be edited at a later date.  
> The small amount of science I've used is shoddy and unresearched but no worse than some of the science I've heard in TV and Film before so hopefully won't put you off too much.

If Tony was a more trusting person he would have been taken off guard by the attack after speaking to Steve. As it is, he isn't more than slightly surprised when JOCASTA alerts him to the security breech. Clearly not as skilled as HYDRA trained assassins and spies. Natasha could get in easy and Barnes had got all the way to the workshop and announced his presence without being discovered.

It's with a sigh and a groan that Tony extricates himself from the minor upgrade to the team's comms and readies the suit, thankfully fully repaired by now.

He curses Nat and Bruce's timing for their trip as he tries to pin down all the entrances to Bruce's floor single handedly, the other two away recruiting if he remembers right. Luckily there aren't too many viable entrances to a floor he designed to protect and contain the Hulk and the elevator itself is controlled by JOCASTA, but there's still the elevator shaft, the stairs, the few windows that don't already have the titanium alloy blinds down over the Hulk-proof glass, the vents. Chances are Cap never bothered looking into the particular security features of Bruce's floor, not to the extent that would be necessary if he were to circumvent them, but Tony isn't a fan of taking those kinds of chances.

Barnes is asleep when he enters the suite. Not unusual, the guy seems to be trying to sleep away his issues just lately and Tony isn't anyone to tell him how to deal with his own shit. He wakes up only when Tony enters the bedroom to check the windows and vents.

"Hey there. We've got a bit of a problem," Tony says. "Your best bud is trying to break in. Shouldn't manage it, but he has a knack for doing impossible crap."

Bucky nods and Tony can't tell how exactly the guy feels about the situation. Relieved? Scared? Upset? Annoyed? No clue.

"So, I kind of need to know where you stand on this," Tony continues, "Whether I'm facing a battle on two sides or not. Not that you'd likely tell me if you're gonna fight your way to freedom's muscular arms, but I'd like to think we have a bond, you know, something that'd make you feel bad for ambushing me."

"I can't leave," Bucky answers after a moment.

Tony tilts his head in acknowledgement. "Well sure, I'm not gonna let you just waltz out the door, but that doesn't say much about whether you're planning on trying. I mean-"

"No. I'm not planning on anything. I'm not safe out there," Bucky cuts in.

Tony has no idea if Bucky means he doesn't feel safe from the people chasing him or if the public wouldn't be safe from him, but he supposes it doesn't much matter. "Right. So obviously I won't expect you to fight Steve, but can I rely on you to at least not do any aiding and abetting in this instance?"

Bucky nods again.

"Awesome. So I'm just gonna go recheck all the exits, you sit tight and try not to escape." Tony checks one final time that Bucky is staying put and goes to have a word with his AIs where hopefully super assassin ears can't hear. “Jo?” He asks first, not entirely sure if FRIDAY will have overridden yet.

“JOCASTA is offline while emergency protocols are engaged,” FRIDAY answers.

“What’s the status of the Hulk-proof system?”

There’s a second’s delay as FRIDAY runs through the systems several thousand times before answering. “Fully operational. However the security on all none Avenger levels is compromised.”

Tony nods, mostly to himself. “Can you track the intruders?”

“Captain Rogers and Miss Maximoff are in corridor 9 on level 39. They are causing significant damage to the systems and making progress towards the stairs. Agent Barton appears to be in the air ventilation system between floors 42 and 43. He is encountering problems with the upgraded security. Agent Carter is attempting to gain access to the private elevator on floor 38,” FRIDAY replies. A split screen appears on the wall with three images, there being no cameras in the ventilation systems to make a fourth.

“Where’s Falcon?” Tony asks, feeling a slight inkling of dread and raising his gaze to the windows. The blinds are still down making seeing the skies beyond impossible, but with the suit’s faceplate lowered he can see visuals from multiple feeds through the HUD. All clear. “And the ant guy, Lang or whatever?”

“Unknown.”

“Did you send the S.O.S to Rhodey?” War Machine is one on their few modes of defense against aerial attack with Tony inside the building.

“Colonel Rhodes is currently deployed in Libya. He has been notified, I am awaiting response.”

“Damn it!” Tony curses. “Vision?”

“On route,” FRIDAY finally gives some good news.

Tony relaxes minutely. “ETA?”

“14 minutes and counting,” FRIDAY says. “I have located Dr. Lang. He is attempting to gain access to this floor via the cabling.”

Tony smirks. Yeah, all that’ll get the guy is frustration and possibly static charged hair. All the electronics on Bruce’s floor, as well as Tony’s own, are wireless. Infiltration by miniaturized men wasn’t something he’d have thought of when he was designing the tower as he hadn’t been aware of Lang at the time, rather it was measure to prevent the Hulk ripping out the cables and causing shorts and easily avoidable damages. On Tony’s floor it was just because he likes things wireless. Still, anything that inconveniences the little twit is worth it all by itself, let alone something that adds such useful security benefits. “Good girl, FRIDAY. You gonna let Daddy in on how you figured that one out? I know we don’t have sensors _inside_ the walls.”

FRIDAY’s voice is undeniably smug when she answers. “Dr Lang’s compressed molecules vibrate at an extremely abnormal rate. Once I confirmed this I scanned the building using the infrared systems. While usually his signature would be ignored because of its size, I searched specifically. Do you wish to see the display?”

“Oh yeah, I fathered a genius,” Tony smiles to himself, the usual pang of JARVIS’s absence soothed just a little by FRIDAY’s out of the box thinking. Definitely a Stark. “Go ahead. Show me where the little mite is hiding.”

A fourth image joins the first three, this one of an only vaguely person shaped blob of heat not 6 meters away from where Tony is standing.

“As of yet, I am still unable to locate Major Wilson.”

“Aw, don’t pout. You did good. Maybe they left bird brain number two out of this one,” Tony says, though he knows that’s unlikely. The most probable situation is that Steve assumed Tony would be distracted by the more obvious infiltration attempts and ignore both Wilson and Lang’s existence. At least he got one out of two. And so far no explosions from Wilson. If they remain in the clear until Vision arrives Tony feels he can be cautiously optimistic.

Of course, that’s when the elevator doors ping open to reveal a stunning blonde with what appears to be an entire arsenal on her person. It only takes two seconds of watching her move before Tony realises how utterly fucked he is. Somehow there’s a Black Widow in his building, and she doesn’t look nearly so open to reason or charm as Natasha.

 

“Updates,” Steve barks into the comms. So far the plan is not going as well as he’d hoped. Turns out Sharon underestimated Tony Stark’s level of paranoia. He had definitely designed the security to keep out his then team mates if he needed to. A part of Steve can’t help but be a little impressed by Tony’s foresight.

Wanda is right behind him and to his left so she doesn’t bother to answer. Replies from the others trickle in slowly as they appraise the situation.

“Tony booby trapped the vents,” Barton says first. “There are sliding panels that keep changing the layout and cutting me off. I’ve been stuck in one place three times now and I have no idea what direction I’m going in.”

“I can’t bypass the codes on the elevator and the keypad is reinforced. I tried blasting it off to get to the wiring but no go. Attempting to pry open the doors now,” Sharon replies.

“Lang?” Steve asks, more quietly this time to avoid being overheard by any spying AIs.

“I can find literally no power outlets on Banner’s floor. Not a single one,” Scott answers voice half confused, half annoyed. “I only got wireless charging on my cell phone last year, how the hell did he make an entire apartment wireless nearly three years ago?”

“Alright,” Steve sighs, kicking through another door. The doors would undoubtedly be much more sturdy once they reached the Avenger’s levels. Even with Wanda he wasn’t sure he could force his way in. “Falcon, do I even want to know how your end is going?”

No reply.

Steve waits a good few minutes, making it up to the next floor without an answer. “Falcon’s gone dark. Carter, I need you to track him down.”

“Fine by me. These doors aren’t budging.”

 

“Okay, you gotta tell me. How do you Russian trained people keep getting into my place? Because currently even Captain America hasn’t managed it,” Tony says, running through options and discarding them in his head as he talks.

The assassin doesn’t answer. Just levels her gun at him.

“You gotta know that’s not going to do any good,” Tony points out. He is fully covered in armour that can and has withstood the fallout from several types of bombs. It’d have to be a pretty special gun to do any real damage.

The assassin keeps the gun up with one hand and presses a button on her utility belt with the other.

For less than half a second, the HUD goes dark and the lights go off all over the floor. EMP then. Good job Tony fixed that vulnerability at least six months ago. Shielded back-up systems. Not as speedy but still worth the millions in R&D Tony had thrown at them.

“Boss, I’ve lost control of the tower security systems.”

Not just an EMP. Great. At least the attackers will probably turn off the security indiscriminately. His old team mates could get here in time to protect Bucky, even if they prefer not to work with Tony to do so.

Without blinking, the assassin swaps out her gun for a wedge of high yield explosive. Tony winces, because sure, the suit could stand up to a blast or two, but even his designs could be compromised by a direct charge to a weak spot. All she has to do is stick it on him in the right place.

“You don’t look much like one of Cap’s crowd. Who sent you?” Tony asks. He knows he won’t get an answer, but at this point he’s buying time, furiously hoping he was right about Falcon’s imminent drop in. He got the impression Team Cap would be more worried about the assassin hurting Bucky than their grudge with him.

“Where is the Winter Soldier?” She clearly doesn’t care if he tells her or not, but Tony decides to answer anyway. Good manners and all that.

“Gone. I’m afraid there’s only a mentally scarred James Barnes left for you to find, and he’s not feeling up to company,” Tony babbles. Lang’s in the wall to his right, trapped but armed and willing to protect Bucky. He hasn’t raised the repulsors yet. The second he does he knows the assassin will be on him, faster than he can aim if training with Natasha was anything to go by. He weighs his options while she studies him silently, clearly waiting for an opening she likely doesn’t need.

“General Ross requires the removal of James Barnes,” the assassin says casually. “He asks that you cooperate with this operation.”

The first blast from his repulsors is aimed at the wall Scott is trapped behind, but the angle is off. It barely leaves a dent. The walls are goddamn Hulk-proof and never had he thought that would come to be a bad thing. He flings the charge she sticks onto a shoulder joint at the wall too, with slightly more success, but the bug man is still unable to make an appearance.

The elevator pings again and a squad of men in black ops uniforms flood the room. By this point Tony isn’t feeling too good about the situation.

He abandons the fight with the black widow entirely in favour of unleashing the suit’s full power at the wall. If he’s left without backup she’ll get him sooner or later no matter how hard he fights. “FRIDAY, focus on regaining control of Bucky’s room and lock it down,” He yells above the noise of repulsor blasts and gun fire. He has no idea if FRIDAY manages the request as she doesn’t reply, but he can hope.

The wall begins to weaken, but Tony is forced to give up in order to defend himself. He’s outnumbered, in the black widow’s case outskilled, and frankly screwed win or lose. If Ross sent the bastards as the assassin claimed, then winning would mean fighting a battle on two sides and probably getting crushed in the middle. Losing would mean, well, losing. Either way he’d end up dead or as good as.

The first of Cap’s team on scene is Barton, flipping ninja style from the vents a few minutes after the Hulk-proofing presumably went off line. Tony’s more than grateful that the archer immediately begins firing at the black ops goons and not at Tony. To be honest he hadn’t wanted to place any bets on whether Team Cap would maim him before or after they saved him. He had an aversion to imagining his former friends shooting him.

Three minutes later Cap himself breaks the stair door down and joins the fray. Wanda stays out on the stairwell to fend off more of the bastards judging by the screams and sounds of bodies thumping down the steps.

There’s a moment where Tony sees the shield his dad made come hurtling towards his face and he thinks he might cry from the double betrayal, before said shield hits the goon just to his right and Cap pushes past to reclaim it.

It takes another few minutes for Tony to notice the obvious. The black ops goons who are currently dropping like flies weren’t expected to win. And the black widow is nowhere in sight.

 

Throughout the gunfire he can hear across the apartment, Bucky does as he was told and stays put. It’s not because he has to obey, but because he doesn’t trust himself to fight. He can only assume Steve got in and now he and Tony are beating each other bloody in a show Bucky desperately doesn’t want to see, let alone take part in, again. He could hurt one of them too badly to heal.

No. He can’t risk it. He’s hurt them both enough already.

It seems to go on forever. The shouting and crashing and all the other violent noises he wishes he could never hear again. At some point he has migrated to the corner with the bed between him and the door, and he can barely remember moving from the bed. The soft sweater he’d found in the closet the night before when he felt the cold and isolation building is getting clogged and heavy with sweat. He pulls at his hair as he struggles not to cover his ears. He needs to hear what’s going on even though he really doesn’t want to.

His breathing is strictly under control as Sharon taught him when he broke down the first time in front of the team, but it doesn’t seem to be helping. His heart is still pounding, his skin still producing chill sweat-shivers every few seconds, his eyes still struggling to focus.

He’s rocking, and when did he start rocking? The thought of the involuntary action scares him more than it should and he forces himself still, fighting the restless energy building and demanding release. He needs to move and he needed to scream and he needs to hit something and it’s all building under his skin.

Metal fingers rub at his scalp while his flesh fingers curl into a fist, pushing all the energy deeper, containing it in the press of his blunt nails to his bruising palm.

Infinite time later the door opens. It shouldn’t. He knows this. The fight is still going on and Tony has the Hulk locks in place on the bedroom door, he heard it click into place after Tony left. But it opens.

He knows what she is instantly. If he had full access to his memories he would probably know her name. She looks familiar enough, in the same way that Natasha had when he first encountered her on that doomed mission to kill Steve. He’d probably worked with her, maybe even trained her. And didn’t the bile just rise at those vaguely recollected memories, fighting with little girls. Bruising them until he deemed them at a suitable level, regardless of the red eyes or pained gasps some of the girls had yet to learn to hide.

She barks a control word and he flinches, half afraid it’ll work and all his hard won recovery, what little there was, would be lost in an instant.

It takes a full minute for him to check through his fractured mind and make certain that it’s still his. The realization that he’s still sat down despite her order gives him the courage to fight. He’s worked too hard for her to come and ruin it. He’s on the right side for the first time in over half a century, even if being on that side means confinement, and he won’t be forced back to the wrong side again.

He stands.

Another command word.

He walks forwards, relishing just a little the slight confusion in her face, not yet enough to escalate into fear. “I am giving you one chance to leave before I kill you. I will not return to HYDRA,” He says, hoping it isn’t obvious that his vision is blurry with panic.

She laughs. “Oh, little soldier. HYDRA doesn’t want you. No one does. I’m here to dispose of you before you make too much trouble of yourself.”

It’s a little terrifying, the relief her assertion brings. Rather death than what he was before.

She tilts her head in curiosity. Her training taught her more than enough to know when someone isn’t afraid of dying, he knows personally. “If you go down quietly I won’t kill your friends.”

Bucky wonders which friends she means, which half of the Avengers. Probably Steve’s and only Steve’s. No protection for Tony or his allies. If she was even telling the truth. He readies himself, minute adjustments to his posture to keep his center balanced and grounded. Steve would never forgive him if he went down easy.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait, guys! Haven't had much time to update between Uni work and work work, but I've got a half hour of internet access and two chapters written, so here you are.  
> Updates will be irregular for the next few weeks while I get my assignments finished, but rest assured, it's still coming. As will the inevitable edits as a realise how many typos and other errors I've probably left in.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!
> 
> (p.s. I also haven't had time to reply to comment, but rest assured, I read each one and grin like an idiot for the hour after I get one. Please do keep leaving them)

Steve halts in place when he catches sight of Stark’s eyes scanning the room with obvious dread, faceplate lifted despite the danger. “Iron Man?”

Stark meets his eyes and for once Steve can see no animosity. “The black widow. She’s not here.”

Steve frowns. “Natasha? I thought she was out of state?”

“Not Natasha.”

And suddenly Steve understands. The assassin got there before Steve did and she already has a head start on Bucky. Depending on Bucky’s state when she found him, Bucky could already be dead or dying. “Where’s Bucky?” He asks urgently.

Stark flips the faceplate back down. “Bedroom. Follow me.”

Normally Steve would be against following Stark’s orders, but in this instance nothing on earth could stop him from doing so.

It takes longer than it should, too many moving bodies in the way, but it still takes less than a minute to reach the door. Opening it is trickier.

“FRIDAY, you know when I asked you to lock it down? I didn’t mean against me,” Tony grumbles.

“It’s not me, boss. I still can’t get control back. Diagnostics suggest they hacked in using my override of JOCASTA, the only way to get them out is to get me out,” FRIDAY responds.

Steve watches as Tony curses and slams his fist impotently against the door.

“Do it, Stark. We have to get in there before she kills him,” Steve orders.

Stark only responds with a minor glare before he does just that, a different female voice, slightly more formal and reminiscent of JARVIS issues from the house speakers, loud after hearing FRIDAY through the HUD only. “Emergency protocols have been deactivated, but it appears there is an emergency still on progress. May I inquire as to why I am back online?”

“Hey, Jo. We had a problem with FRIDAY’s access, we need you to take over security,” Stark answers. “More importantly, open this damn door.”

The door clicks unlocked before Tony finishes his sentence and Steve is diving through it mere fractions of a second later.

They find Bucky pinning the black widow to the floor, metal arm hanging limply, flesh fingers wrapped tightly around her throat. That doesn’t worry Steve nearly so much as the fractured Russian Bucky babbles while she struggles beneath him.

Stark gets there first, not frozen in the same cold shock that Steve is, gauntleted hand reaching out to Bucky. Steve opens his mouth to warn him, he knows what reaction that will get from his friend, but it’s too late.

Bucky spins to sweep Tony, metal hand slamming into the center of the suit hard enough to make the light in the chest plate flicker.

“Bucky!” Steve barks.

Bucky turns lost eyes on him and Steve’s heart clenches. He’d do anything to save Bucky from this. Instead he has to settle for saving him from those who want to punish him for it.

The black widow has climbed to her feet. A red band is fast appearing around her neck but her breathing is even and her stance is steady.

Steve is lost for a moment, Bucky is halfway back to the Winter Soldier and Stark is standing still, eyes distant as he listens to his AI list off suit functionality. He’s alone.

The black widow seizes the moment and advances on Bucky, whose attention is still locked on Steve.

A repulsor blast has her ducking to the side and all three sets of eyes in the room turning back to Stark.

Stark meets Steve’s eyes, still distant, but present enough. “Go.”

Steve nods and grasps Bucky’s arm, careful to broadcast his movements as he does so. Bucky stands startled for a moment until Stark gives him a tight smile and gestures towards Steve with his head. The black widow is close behind them, but Stark keeps her occupied with regular blasts that come too close for comfort.

Back in the main living room the fight has wound down, coming to a finish as Steve approaches the center of the room. Ant Man has somehow been released from the walls and Wanda has half of the attackers staring unseeingly at the walls. Sometimes it worries Steve how quickly her gifts are growing. This isn’t one of those times, right now he can only feel grateful.

Vision is standing to Wanda’s left.

“Stark need you,” Steve tells the android, or whatever the hell he’s classed as (cyborg? Like those Terminator movies Sharon made him watch? He doesn’t think Vision has any organic parts but…). He doesn’t like leaving the black widow in Stark’s custody, if he’s even capable of containing her, but better her than Bucky. He nods at Wanda, Scott and Clint and leads the way back the stairs, still guiding an unresponsive Bucky.

“I have instructions to protect and contain Sergeant Barnes,” Vision responds mildly, though he doesn’t move in either direction.

“I’ll bet protecting Tony is higher on the agenda. He’s facing a black widow on his own,” Steve replies without pausing.

Vision looks torn for a moment, but turns towards the bedroom.

Wanda lingers long enough to ensure those still living among the strike team are unconscious but joins them on the stairs moments later.

Steve hits his coms. “Carter?”

“Here,” Carter replies, breathing heavily.

“What’s the situation? Did you find the Falcon?”

A pause and a gust of breath, then, “Not yet. Got sidetracked by some guys headed up to join you. Nearly at the ground floor now.”

“Roger that. We’re on our way now. We have Bucky.” Steve listens to her breathing a few seconds longer, concerned with the ragged sound of it, but concludes there’s nothing he can do until he’s down there with her. He hits the coms again and focuses on getting down the stairs.

 

The black widow is bruised and slightly burned in places where the repulsor blasts hit too close but she shows no signs of slowing. Tony has to hand it to the Red Room, their training is way more effective than anything the US seems capable of. Then again, that probably has something to do with their fucked up methods of brainwashing, child grooming and torture.

He notices Vision’s entrance only peripherally, unable to take his attention away from his opponent. Natasha’s taught him a few things and he’s pretty hardcore himself when in the suit, but he knows better than to take any chances.

He can’t help but wonder why he’s still fighting her. Cap’s already got Bucky out with the rest of his team, she’s not getting near him again. And sure, there’s a chance she’d kill Tony for the hell of it, but at this point it’s only a matter of rapidly diminishing time before someone does. Still, as long as he’s fighting, he doesn’t have to think about the fact that he’s lost.

Whatever ideals he held at the start of this, there’s no way to fight for them anymore. Had Barnes stayed there was a chance he’d have the leverage to keep negotiations open, but fear for and of the man had destroyed what tactical thinking he’d had in that moment.

“Jo, is the floor cleared?” Tony asks, faceplate back down.

“Captain Rogers and his companions have exited the floor,” JOCASTA confirms.

“Flood the room. Enough gas to knock out a floor full of elephants,” Tony instructs.

Within moments the widow is stumbling on her feet, futilely fighting the effects of the sedative. Tony waits until well after she’s fallen to the floor before he attempts to handle her.

 

They find Sam nearly a block away, unconscious and bleeding from a small headwound probably acquired from the curb after he was assaulted.

Sharon is bleeding from a bullet would in her side. Not too serious, but enough that she struggles to keep up. The tower security are chasing them. Steve can’t say he’s surprised. Whatever had driven Tony to letting Steve walk out with Bucky was spawned from that moment Bucky had hit him in the chest, not from a sudden upsurge of morality.

They hole up while Sharon examines Sam and Wanda slowly brings him around. It takes far too long, Wanda unpracticed at using her talents like that.

Steve tries to keep eyes on everyone, but his attention strays to Bucky more often than he’d like. Bucky is back with them, that much he can tell, but some instinct has him panicking every time the man is out of sight. They blend in with the crowds as much as they can, taking different routes to the rendezvous point, trying to split the attention of any followers. Wanda and Sharon are the first to branch off, Sam and Scott are next, leaving Steve with Bucky following close behind.

He hears the shouts when he’s too far away to do anything much. He tries, pushing back into the crowd towards where Sharon and Wanda had been headed, but there’s no way to make it in time. 

People are screaming, some collapsed on the ground in a path between Wanda and the empty spot she’s staring at. Men with weapons in hand lie in a circle closer to her, and Steve tries not to look too closely at their self-inflicted wounds.

He can’t see Sharon.

“They attacked us,” Wanda says, hands still glowing red. “Sharon is pursuing the others.”

Bucky’s face shutters closed as Steve spins to check on him. He has a gun in his hand and Steve doesn’t know where he got it from.

Sam and Scott arrive, both panting having run as full out as they could in the gathering crowd. Scott seems as lost as Steve, but Sam is by Wanda’s side in a moment, arm around her shoulders, guiding her away.

Sam catches Steve’s eye. “Go after her. We’ll meet you back at the rendezvous spot.”

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

 

Two hours later Steve has to admit defeat.

No more leads left to follow, not that there were many to start with. Wanda had killed all those who had tried to take her, too panicked by the sudden close quartered attack to limit the damage. A handful of civilians had been caught in the crossfire, several injured badly enough that paramedics were still on the scene when Steve and Bucky headed back towards the others. From what Steve could tell, there were no casualties as of yet.

Sharon, when they find her, describes a blue van, but none of them so much as glimpse blue paintwork afterwards. “They weren’t US agents,” She adds when they start heading back. “I’m not even sure they were agents. This seemed more personal. The attack was well planned, they managed to get pretty close, but execution was shoddy once we were engaged.”

“Country of origin?” Steve asks.

“I don’t think there was one. There were a subgroup I thought were maybe Mexican-American, but I think this was a mixed group,” Sharon shakes her head. “Pretty rare, but if we can find an area with high mixed immigration levels, probably one we’ve fought in, then I think we’ve got our origin.”

Steve grits his teeth. “No. It’s not important. We’ve got bigger things to worry about right now.”

Sharon looks troubled but nods her agreement.

Bucky stays silent, eyes darting around with a focus Steve only ever used to see when Bucky was getting ready to take a shot he wasn’t sure he could make. His mouth has an old familiar twitch, a surefire sign of concentration on Bucky.

“We were beginning to wonder if you were coming,” Scott says when they finally make it back to the rendezvous.

Steve forces a smile, knows from experience that a sour or worried Captain America isn’t good for morale. “No leads. Let’s go.”

Sam nods and starts the mini-van. Steve tries not to think how hilarious Stark would find their mode of transport. Part of the whole reason they picked it (aside from having enough seats for everyone) is for its camouflage. No way anyone would expect a group of vigilantes in a car more often associated with soccer moms. Tony still would have laughed his ass off, and Natasha would have given that eyebrow raise that meant she was simultaneously rolling her eyes at Tony’s antics and inwardly joining him.

Sharon pats his arm on her way past, climbing in next to Wanda, giving the girl a reassuring smile.

Steve climbs into the passenger seat and takes out the road map from the glove compartment. GPS is a no-no when you’re on the run and they all know better than to stay around areas they know well enough to navigate without some kind of directions.

“Bucky!” Sharon calls, and Steve spins. She meets his eye and points wordlessly to where Bucky is already disappearing around the corner.

It takes less than thirty seconds for Steve to fling open the car door and reach the corner. Bucky is already out of sight. Steve sets off blindly. He can’t lose him again. After all those months of searching. He couldn’t do it again.

He doesn’t stop, mind fixed and panicked and repeating a mantra of Bucky’s name, until he knocks someone over. Mutters a ‘sorry’ over his shoulder, but it’s only when he’s taken a few dozen more steps that he realises he didn’t even check if the person was okay. He can’t see them when he spins around.

He can’t breathe. It’s not the same as the asthma, not really, but there’s still that feeling of inhaling without getting any oxygen.

“Hey,” Sharon’s voice reaches him before his eyes register her. Her hand is on his arm, firm and grounding. He both wants to shrink away and press her hand on firmer. “Come on, let’s get you back to the others.”

“Bucky,” He sobs a little on the name.

“We’ll find him. But not like this, okay? We need to regroup,” Sharon says.

Steve shakes his head. “If they find him first, they’ll kill him.” He doesn’t need to specify who. Anybody that finds Bucky other than them is likely to kill him.

“They’re not going to find him,” Sharon reassures him. “Steve. Steve, look at me. They won’t find him. He’s better than that. He won’t be found until he wants to be, and the only person he’ll want finding him is you. He’s just scared. He’ll come back.”

Steve meets her eyes and tries to believe her. Breathes deeply until the world seems less bright and sharp and the noise doesn’t press in on him so much. Bucky  is too good at hiding to be found easily. It may mean Steve won’t find him, but it also means no one else will either. It’s fine. Bucky’s not with him, but he’s as safe as Steve could hope. He’s fine. Steve nods and straightens, lets Sharon lead him back to the others.

 

Tony leaves the black widow under Vision and JOCASTA’s watchful eyes. Cameras. Whatever.

It takes three separate phone calls before he gets through to General Ross. More an insult than anything else, and Tony knows it.

“He was in my custody. He wasn’t going anywhere. Now thanks to you, he’s back with team Cap. Hope you’re happy, dickweed.” Tony hangs up before Ross can answer. He knows he shouldn’t have called, shouldn’t have volunteered that information, but Ross would have found out either way and Steve seems adept enough at avoiding military assholes. Probably something to do with being one.

His fingers itch as he glances at the bar on his way back to the workshop, but he opts for water and blueberries instead. He needs his head on straight to figure out how the bastards hacked his baby.

It takes less time to find the problem than it does to fix it. The fact that there’s access for overrides leaves a weakness in the system that Tony should have seen coming. He could fix it, and he does, but it means locking FRIDAY out while he does but also means overriding JOCASTA, leaving the tower and his systems vulnerable. He manages to keep the window short, but it still makes his heart pound for the short minutes it takes to patch the weakness and boot JOCASTA up again.

“YOU, get Daddy a drink,” He directs over his shoulder, DUM-E and Butterfingers already at work doing some welding on the corner of the workbench. “How you feeling, Jo?”

“Fully operational, sir,” JOCASTA replies.

“Glad to see you haven’t lost any of your sparkling wit or unique personality,” Tony mutters, missing JARVIS like he misses breathing pre Afghanistan. Pre the gigantic hole next to his heart. Even with the arc reactor removed and a fuckton of reconstruction he’s missing parts he didn’t know he could feel until they were gone. “Okay, JOCASTA, initiate emergency protocols.”

“Sir?”

“I know, okay, I just need to see if it’s fixed. It looks it but we can’t know for sure it isn’t something hiding in FRIDAY’s code until we try it,” Tony says.

“Hi, Boss,” FRIDAY’s voice comes through a scant second later.

“FRIDAY, you got anything piggybacking with you there?”

“Not that I can find.”

Tony rubs his eyes. “Okay. Stick around just a minute while I check it out myself.”

Nothing. Either it’s fixed or they’re better than Tony, and that? Not possible. No one knows his code like he does.

“Okay, you can go for nap time now,” Tony says after a final couple of checks. Because Tony’s arrogant, not stupid and if he learned anything from the whole genocidal robot thing it’s an even deeper and more intense paranoia than he had after his oldest and closest friend tried to have him killed and take over his company.

An hour later and Tony is still wading through dozens of half-thought out upgrades to the tower’s security, no closer to deciding if any of them are worth pursuing.

“Sir, there is an incoming call from an unknown number. Voice recognition is a match for Sergeant Barnes.”

“Huh?” Tony blinks and shakes himself. “What?”

“Sergeant Barnes is on the phone, sir,” JOCASTA repeats.

Tony has a moment of ‘does not compute’ before he’s stumbling from his chair, nearly falling flat on his face as he moves over to a free screen. “Put him through.”

“Stark?” Bucky says, almost too quietly to hear over the line.

“Hey, Barnes. Thought you were back with Captain Tight Ass. Whatcha doin’ calling me?” Tony says, fingers already flying as he races against whatever time he has to track Bucky down.

“I told you, I’m not safe.”

Tony almost stops what he’s doing. Almost. “Are you saying you’ve gone lone wolf on us?”

“I need you to get Steve to stop.”

“No can do, Buckster. Been there, tried that, got multiple injuries to show for it.”

Bucky huffs. “This isn’t like that. I need you to tell him I don’t want to be found. Tell him to work on patching things up over the register before he gets himself killed.”

“Why don’t you tell him yourself?” Tony asks.

No answer.

“Bucky?”

The line drops.

“Fuck!” Tony pulls at his hair until his eyes tear. “Jo, you get any background noise we can use?”

“No, sir.”

“Fuck. Okay, we need to track down Cap. You got any eyes on them?”

“Checking surveillance over the central New York area.”

Tony drums his fingers on the surface in front of him as he waits.

“No matches for over an hour.”

Tony sighs. He’d really hoped not to have to use this ace just yet. “Okay, hook me up to their coms.”

 

They’re still on the road when Steve’s com comes online by itself.

“Cap, you there?”

Steve freezes, looks around at the others. None of them seem to have received the same message.

“Who am I kidding? I know you’re there Capsicle. We need to talk and when I tried your cell an hour ago it was already cut off. I’m guessing you all tossed your phones after the tower, right?”

Steve shifts. “How did you get on this line?”

The others turn to look at him, equal parts alarmed and curious.

 Stark sighs theatrically. “Do we really need to go over this? I’m a genius. You know this.”

Pushing back irritation, Steve focuses on the matter at hand. “Alright. _Why_ are you on this line?”

“A little birdie told me you lost your pet assassin again.”

Steve’s paranoia raises its head at that, leaving him clenching his fists hard enough that his fingers turn yellow-white. He looks pointlessly around the car. “Who?”

“Said pet assassin called for a little chat. And by little I mean miniscule. Barely spoke three sentences. Couldn’t track him. Best I can guess, he physically crushed whatever phone he was using as soon as he hung up.”

“Bucky called you? Why?”

“Hell if I know. He told me to tell you not to look for him.”

“No.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d say. Try telling Bucky Bear that, though.”

Steve has to resist the urge to blame Tony for not keeping Bucky talking longer, not telling Bucky to call Steve. “What exactly did he say?”

“He said he wasn’t safe,” Tony replies, voice gone at least a little more serious. “Told me to get you to focus on fixing this mess with the register before you get yourself killed. Next thing I know he’s hanging up on me.”

“You better not be messing with me, Stark.”

Tony laughs humourlessly. “Trust me, I’ve got enough problems without adding a homicidal Captain America to the list. In case you forgot, I have a black widow in my tower, a distinctly uncomfortable level of backup, and I’m about to have the entire resources of the USA government hammer down my door demanding to know why I let the most dangerous man in the country leave my custody instead of letting their hitwoman take him out.”

“Does he… How did he sound?” Steve has to ask.

Stark pauses before answering. “Scared.”

 

Bucky feels a small twinge of regret as he drops the crushed remainders of the phone. Stark was right, he should have called Steve, he had the com unit Steve had pressed into his hand on the way out of the tower. But he still couldn’t face that conversation. He’s a coward. He wants to keep Steve’s illusions that Bucky’s still Bucky alive. A part of him resents it, the fact that he’ll never be as good as the man he used to be, but another part of him craves the love, admiration and respect in Steve’s eyes whenever he looks at Bucky.

So he’d dropped the com unit before he’d even called Stark. Too much risk he could be tracked by it anyway.

It’s almost a relief to be back on his own again. No one to worry about beyond himself, nothing to plan except the next place to hide, to eat, to sleep. No need to keep trying to dig up those elusive memories that make Steve smile when Bucky recounts them. Just running.

 

It takes longer than Tony expected for the wolves to descend. Nearly a full twelve hours.

He’s almost relieved when they arrive, almost reassured by their number. He was beginning to think they had other things to worry about.

“You were supposed to keep the Soldier here,” Is the greeting he receives as he walks through into one of the Stark Industries board rooms.

Tony sits down, leans back, throws up his feet on the conference table. “Yes, well. That was before I had the US military sending ex-soviet assassins to my door.”

The room is conspicuously silent.

“I see. So it wasn’t just the military, huh? Good to know. If that’ll be all, you can show yourselves out,” Tony moves to stand.

“This isn’t over by any means. You will stay in your seat and explain why, exactly, you let the biggest threat to this country since your own abomination walk free. And then you will rectify the situation,” A grumpy looking guy who Tony thinks might be a figure head for the FBI says.

“Sounds fun. But seeing as you’re the ones who broke our agreement first, and we agreed the Soldier is Avenger jurisdiction, I’m gonna have to insist you vacate my tower before I have one of my abominations escort you out,” Tony replies. “Don’t worry, my people will call your people later to talk about your unlawful assassination attempt.”

“Stark, sit down!” General Ross bellows.

“I’m going to say no thanks.”

“If you continue to be uncooperative-“

“Save it. If you wanted to muscle me you would have brought more backup. I’m guessing you’re hoping my team and I will track Barnes down for you as you’ve all proven so awful at it, and that makes me indispensable,” Tony says. He doesn’t believe a word he’s saying for a second. His best guess is that there’ll be teams here to arrest him as soon as they’ve decided who gets to do the arresting. But if there’s anything he’s good at, beyond drinking, inventing, partying, fighting bad guys, making money and schmoozing, it’s bullshitting his way out of tricky situations.

The second Tony’s out of their sight, he’s running for the elevator. He gets to the workshop ASAP and tells JOCASTA to lock it down.

A few short moments to catch his breath and gather his wits, and Tony calls Natasha and Bruce.

“Tony?” Bruce answers. Tony nearly feels like crying at the sound of a friendly voice. “What’s up?”

“I’m assuming Jo or Vision updated you on the Bucky situation?”

Bruce coughs. “Yeah. I’m sorry we weren’t there.”

“Hey, no, it’s cool. You can’t be here all the time,” Tony dismisses. “This is more to do with certain people not being very happy at all that I let him go instead of letting them kill him. I think I’m in trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?” Bruce asks. He sounds much more worried now.

“The kind that means going dark until I can figure out a way to fix it. They can’t come after any of you, you weren’t involved with letting Barnes go. Well, apart from Vision, but he’ll come with. Just keep the new recruits in line, keep the talks over the registration act open as long as you can and fend off the feds until I come back.” Tony looks over at his suit and catches sight of some of the scorch marks he hasn’t yet buffed out. “Oh, and I’m sending you a picture of the assassin. Anyone Nat recognizes?”

There’s a second as they receive and open the picture.

“Tony, get out of there,” Natasha says after a sharp intake of breath.

“I’ll take that as a yes. She’s unconscious right now. Tied up too, not that I think that’ll do a hell of a lot to slow her down. Vision’s watching her.”

“She’s the best that ever came out of the Red Room, Tony. Do not underestimate her.”

“The best? I thought that was you?”

“It was. Until Yelena.”

Tony sucks in a breath. Not the best news he could have had. “Okay. Well, we’re not sticking around much longer anyway.”

“Be careful.”

“Yeah, I get it. I’ll try to contact you guys soon. If you guys need me, you’ll have to go through JOCASTA.”

“Okay. We’re heading back to the tower now. We should be there within a few hours. Don’t be there when we get in,” Natasha tells him.

“Understood.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. It's been forever and this is shorter than usual. But in my defence, my final assignments come to a combined total of 13k words and I still managed to spare an extra nearly 2k to write this. 
> 
> Uni is over until Sept now though, so updates should speed back up.
> 
> Also, I should note that given the release of Civil War, this will now be officially AU, though once I've actually seen it I may add in some elements from canon.
> 
> (sidenote: and here were see an appearance of poor wittle confused Stevie. He's not always going to be this wobbly and self-contradictory, he's just working through some stuff)

 

Steve stares at the shiny new cell phone in his hands. Cheap but sturdy. Not a burner but not far off. He intends to keep it as long as necessary but is under no delusions that it’ll be a permanent addition to his miniscule collection of personal possessions. He knows he has no other option. Bucky had contacted Stark, he probably would again. But it still stung to have to call Stark of all people so he could maintain contact with his own best friend.

He quickly checks that the others are still asleep and presses the dial symbol.

A few seconds of ringing and he hears a clicking noise as the line connects, but nothing after that. He frowns, “Hello? Stark?”

“Captain Rogers,” JOCASTA’s even tones reply. “Mr. Stark is currently unavailable. How may I help?”

“Unavailable?” Steve’s fingers tightened around the phone a little. “Is he… He’s alright though? He’s safe?” He isn’t quite sure if he’s more worried about losing his only lead to Bucky or losing Stark. After everything that’s happened he has no idea how he’d feel about losing the man.

“Mr. Stark has left the Tower indefinitely. He has disabled all trackers and monitors to prevent those systems being used to pursue him. At the time of his departure, he was unharmed. I am capable of contacting him through the FRIDAY operating system if you would like to give him a message?”

Steve rubs his eyes. “Yes. Give him this number and tell him to pass it on to Bucky if he calls. And to keep me updated.”

The line immediately disconnects and Steve has the distinct impression that JOCASTA is annoyed with him.

It takes half an hour before Stark calls him. Steve feels uncomfortable with how certain he was the genius would call him back, only surprised it took him so long. “Hello?”

“You left a message with JOCASTA,” Stark says, background noise of crowds making Steve wonder just where the man is hiding.

“She seemed upset with me,” Steve answers, feeling foolish for commenting on a computer’s mental state but feeling the need to do so regardless.

A small huff of laughter from Stark. “She doesn’t like that I had to leave the tower. And I think she was getting pretty fond of Barnes, she liked to try to scare the crap outta him. The guy reads way too much Sci Fi and takes her way too seriously when she talks about pumping in the neurotoxins or sucking out the oxygen. Pretty sure she blames you for taking him away before she got to perfect her HAL routine.”

The reference rung a vague bell, but Steve doesn’t bother dedicating too much attention to placing it. And he’s fairly sure JOCASTA had other reasons for being upset with him, she’d seemed happy enough to talk to him before he mentioned Bucky. “Yeah, he has that effect on people. Even artificial ones apparently.”

“So, I had to get out of dodge. According to our own resident assassin queen, the black widow Ross sent to us is a top notch, probably gonna find a way to kill me despite being unconscious grade killer,” Stark says after an uncomfortable pause. “Plus, I think two more minutes and there would have been arrest warrants with my name on them right next to yours and Barnes’. Well, there probably are anyway. But I’m not around to see them anymore, or be arrested. But yeah, my point, that I completely skipped over, is that Barnes isn’t going to call me if he has any sense. You might try Natasha, maybe.”

“Why would he call Natasha?”

A small silence then, “I just shrugged. I know you can’t see that, I’m used to calls with video feeds and- anyway. I don’t know. Why did he call me? Why does Barnes do anything he does?”

Steve thinks back to the tower, to Bucky waiting for Stark’s cue before leaving with them. “He trusts you. God knows why. His first instinct was to shoot you in the head, and first impressions usually stick with him. But something you did or said, it convinced him he could turn to you.”

“Oh. That makes no sense whatsoever, but okay,” Stark replies awkwardly.

“Please don’t fuck it up. I can’t lose him again,” Steve begs before he has a chance to think about it.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed,” Stark snaps.

Steve winces but makes no attempt to apologize. He’d only be lying. He’d do it all again to protect Bucky.

Stark curses quietly down the phone. “It’s not that I don’t get why. I’d do the same for Rhodey or Pepper in a heartbeat. But what you’re doing risks us all. Barnes included.”

“And what you’re doing doesn’t? We live in a world where regular people can be locked away without due process if the right people call them terrorists, what do you think they’ll do to people like us?” Steve argues. “Besides, the whole thing’s a little rich coming from someone who went on the run as soon as they thought they might get arrested.”

“If I was just going to be arrested that’d be one thing, it wouldn’t even be the first time, it’s more the assassin in Bruce’s bedroom. If I thought I’d make it to trial I’d be posing in handcuffs as we speak,” Tony says. He curses again. “I suppose this is where I admit that you were right to worry about Barnes getting a fair trial. Still, the whole reason I’m in trouble is for protecting him just like I said I would, you could’ve given me a little more credit than you did.”

“You want credit for not letting an innocent man get murdered?” Steve asks incredulously.

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Tony replies. “I gotta go. Fugitive logistics to figure out and all. Bye, Cap.”

The line disconnects before Steve can say another word. He takes a deep breath and puts the phone down gently before he can accidentally break it. Sometimes he honestly feels as if Stark speaks a whole other language to the one Steve himself does. Maybe he ought to try talking to him in French or Italian and see if it makes Stark any easier to understand.

Another check that the others are asleep and he leaves. Not far, only a couple of blocks. Just far enough to rid himself of the crowded feeling pressing in on him.

A text comes in seconds after he turns to head back.

_I won’t trace your phone, but others might if you keep being so chatty. In future only answer calls from this number and connect outbound calls through JOCASTA. Stay on the phone for no more than twenty seconds._

Steve sighs. In all honesty, the thought that Stark might trace the call had occurred to him but he had thought the risk worth taking. They supposedly had a truce for now, if not stated then implied.

Stark always underestimated his ability with modern technology though. Steve had been offended until he’d met Happy and seen the man handle a cell phone. If Happy Hogan, a man who had been employed by Stark Industries for decades, had so much trouble it was hardly surprising that Stark might expect the same from a man born in the 1920s. Even if Steve had used tech more advanced than the average millennial had even laid eyes on. In front of Stark no less. Tony Stark often wasn’t the most observant man in the world.

Wanda is waiting outside the building they are sleeping rough in, arms wrapped around her still too-skinny frame, worried frown on her face.

Steve spots her long before he get within her hearing range, though her large eyes track his approach.

“You were on the telephone with Stark,” Wanda accuses. At his puzzled look she explains, “Your thoughts woke me as you left. They were… Loud.”

“Do you generally keep tabs on your teammates’ thoughts?” Steve can’t help but ask accusingly.

Wanda doesn’t answer, raising her chin defensively.

Steve takes in a small scar on her neck and actually thinks it through. He’d probably have trust issues too in her place. He closes his eyes for a moment. “Bucky called him, I wanted to give Stark a number to contact or pass on if Bucky calls him again.”

“You put us all at risk,” Wanda says.

“No, Stark isn’t a risk to us right now. He’s on the run, too. Ross came after him after what he did to protect Bucky,” Steve says.

“He was protecting himself, not Bucky,” Wanda argues. “What other choice did he have with us surrounding him?”

“Wanda…”

“Your judgement is clouded where Bucky Barnes is concerned. You do not think what consequences your actions will have for the rest of us.” She tilts her head. “Or you do not care.”

“Of course I care!” Steve can feel himself tensing, getting angry. He's getting the same accusations from both sides, and he knows he doesn't think entirely clearly where Bucky is concerned, but he would never knowingly risk his team the way they're all implying. Wanda is eyeing him warily and he can tell she’s poised for fight or flight. He deliberately relaxes his own posture and meets her eyes. “Stark, Tony, he isn’t a bad guy. He’s not… He means well.”

Wanda looks rightfully skeptical. Her own history and the past few months have only shown her the opposite, and at times Steve himself has doubted Stark’s good intentions and moral fiber. Quite a few times in truth.

“He won’t use Bucky against us,” Steve tries instead. Maybe he can’t convince her of Stark’s virtues when he isn’t so sure of them himself, but he can at least reassure her on the man’s motives. “He has nothing to gain from doing so at this point. It’s too late for him to co-operate even if he wanted to. I think…” He thinks it through a few seconds: Bucky’s trust of Stark, Stark’s compliance in passing along Bucky’s message to Steve, Stark’s almost fond joking about Bucky’s Sci-Fi enthusiasm. “I think he likes Bucky. Whatever went on in that tower, both of them seem to have had a change in attitude.” He pulls a face. “I think they bonded.”

Wanda pulls a matching face. “The Winter Soldier murdered Stark’s parents, and Stark has been actively attempting to capture us all for months.”

Steve shrugs.

Silence falls as Wanda’s gaze goes distant in thought. “And yet they do have much in common,” She ponders at length. At last she nods once, decisively. “If you truly believe Stark will not betray us through this, then I will trust you.”

He drops his hand on her shoulder and squeezes in thanks, eliciting a small, almost wary smile in response.

“Seeing as you’re awake, would you take next watch?” He asks her as they go back inside.

“Of course.”

In spite of her reservations she seems at ease, or as close to as she ever gets. Satisfied, Steve spares one last thought to where and how Bucky is spending the night, and goes to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Top tip: Never try to write a fic just before the canon version comes out. I have spent weeks staring at the screen wondering how to write this thing knowing all the stuff that happens in CA:CW and in the end I only managed it due to my writing buddy's very obvious but very helpful advice: 'write it how you were going to write it to begin with. Ignore canon'

It’s surprisingly easy to blend in. Shave the beard (with great pain that has nothing to do with shaving cuts), comb his hair flat and forward over his eyes, and wear some baggy, dull coloured clothing, and no one glances at him twice. He doubts they’ll look closely even once the inevitable news alerts go out.

He can’t do anything flashy, can’t go stay in the places he’s used to, but he got enough cash out, along with a few of the fake identities all the Avengers had made awhile back, that he can go to a chain hotel. The kind of place that has thin, crisp, clean sheets, fluffy towels and bland but aesthetic prints on the walls. Bolted to the walls. But still.

He settles in for a few nights while he plans further ahead than ‘get the hell away’. In every lecture Natasha ever gave him, she told him to always be aware of his options but never set down a plan before an escape. If you know where you’re going, someone else can figure it out. So he’d already put damage control in place for Stark Industries and Pepper and the Avengers months ago, but beyond the preparation of cash and identities, and an awareness of all the places he can go, he hasn’t planned his get away. He can’t use the identities for long. Whoever hacked FRIDAY could have gained access to his files. It’s highly unlikely they went trawling through long and hard enough to find his little stash of alternate selves, but it’s possible, and he doesn’t need Nat to tell him that’s enough of a risk.

Clint once told him some contacts’ names. Names he should only ever use when completely out of options, and that he should never, ever write down, even on the most secure and encrypted of systems. He doesn’t know if he can use them anymore or if Clint’s thought to warn them to turn him away since the fighting started. Clint just wanted the fighting to be over, maybe he didn’t hate Tony enough to take away potentially life saving options.

The cash he’s got on hand and stashed around the country (and a few other countries) should be enough to last him years. At the very least, it should buy him a new, black market identity if he needs something in the longterm. Bruce gave him some contacts that could get him travel papers, though he isn’t sure about the kinds of destinations he’d have his pick of. When Bruce disappears he generally ends up in a slum somewhere in a third world country.

There are Nat’s safehouses. The ones she’s told him about anyway, he has no doubt she kept the majority to herself, paranoid bastard that she is.

He has a few connections of his own that are at least worth considering.

The point is, options. He has them. He just needs to decide which one to go for next.

It’s as he’s evaluating said options that the call comes.

He answers without hesitation, confidant that FRIDAY will have ensured only a trusted vocal match made it through.  “What’s the problem?” He asks, because nobody would call without there being one.

“Which one?” Bruce replies.

“Wow, sounds like things are going swimmingly. Hit me with it all,” Tony says, and he can practically hear Bruce ordering the issues and counting to ten or whatever he does to calm himself down.

“The Avengers have been suspended effective immediately pending investigation into our loyalties and possible actions as accessories, as ordered by the Supreme Court. I don’t know how, especially with the accounts you left, but Ross rushed it through somehow. We’re just lucky they’ve not arrested anyone yet.” Bruce laughs and there’s nothing happy in it. “Let’s face facts, we’ve all done things we’re not so proud of. And if Ross wants to lynch someone, Natasha and I are prime candidates.”

Tony wants to punch something. No, not something. Someone. Namely General Ross. “They can’t arrest any of you for anything. The Avengers are clean. I made sure. As for you and Nat, I had your records expunged years ago. Ross can’t touch you.”

“You want to tell him that?”

“Sure, right after I develop bullet proof skin and the ability to walk through prison cell walls,” Tony says. “Next on the list of shit?”

“He’s moved to have Vision confiscated as an illegal weapon.”

“He _what?_ ”

Bruce’s voice goes hesitant. “They want to reprogram him and repurpose him as property of the United States government.”

“One, they can’t, he _is_ his programming, he won’t work without it.” He doesn’t mention that they could still corrupt his programming. “Two, they don’t know where he is. I have him hiding out of reach until I can find us safer and more permanent and accommodation. Three, he’s not a weapon. We already dealt with this after Ultron, he’s legally classified as an emergency response learning machine, with papers being filed to have him classified as a person. Four, is that even _legal_? They can’t just steal stuff and say it’s theirs!”

“I don’t know, Tony. On the bright side, none of them seem to have even thought about FRIDAY or JOCASTA. I think they’re assuming they’re both glorified versions of Siri,” Bruce replies.

“’On the bright side’? Really? That’s what you’re going with as a silver lining here?” Tony says. “I know you’re new at the whole optimism thing, but you gotta know my girls only being safe because the bad guys think they’re braindead isn’t a good thing.”

“There’s more.”

“Oh my God! Seriously? How much more crap can we pile on here? Sooner or later we’ve got to reach rock bottom.” He doesn’t believe it. Whenever he’s reached rock bottom before, life’s just handed him a jackhammer and let him keep on digging.

“As of right now, there’s just one more thing,” Bruce promises, apologetic and tired.

Tony drops his head back and stares at the ceiling. “Okay. Whatever. Lay it on me.”

“Nat and I just got back to the tower and…” Bruce’s voice projects his wince. “Yelena isn’t here.”

 

***

 

Bucky hasn’t slept yet. It’s approaching 54 hours since he left the tower and even with his inferior version of the serum, that’s pushing it if he wants to remain alert and fully functional.

That doesn’t make it any easier to lie down and close his eyes.

It wasn’t like this before Steve found him. Enough of the programming still had a hold of him that he could sleep when needed, eat when needed. Since Steve broke through, his survival instincts are just as human and fallible as the rest of him, and that means lack of appetite and insomnia.

He allows himself, just for a moment, to miss the calming sound of Steve’s breathing in the darkness. He can’t allow more than a moment to miss anything about Steve, or it’s a fast descent into missing everything about Steve all at once and far too much, and he can’t afford that right now.

Instead he tries to force his mind blank.

When he was Bucky Barnes, truly Bucky Barnes, clearing his mind had been impossible. He’d determinedly push aside his thoughts only to start thinking about whether he’d managed to push away his thoughts, then he’d get annoyed because he was thinking about thinking and he’d give up.

When he was the Winter Soldier, the Asset and nothing more, clearing his mind hadn’t been half so difficult as filling it. A blank, objective focused mind was what he was programmed to have at all times.

Now… Now his mind is filled with fractured half thoughts until they jumble together, finally pulling him down into brief periods of unconsciousness.  

He doesn’t check the time before rising. He knows he didn’t rest long enough, but it’s all he can stomach for now.

It’s difficult to force his thoughts from Steve and whether he’s safe. Bucky has no way of knowing where Steve is or how he’s doing and it kills him a little inside. The man that used to be wholly Bucky Barnes is ripping his mind apart with worry and guilt; he’s supposed to look out for Stevie. If he doesn’t who the hell else will?

But the man he is now knows how stupid that is. If there’s anyone Steve needs protection against, it’s Bucky. It’s the Asset.

Either way, he can’t go back now.

His disguise is one of normality. The most important skill he’d learned in the army before the Winter Soldier was born was that of going unnoticed. It had taken multiple covert ops with the Howling Commandos before he’d become good at it, before the war he’d striven to stand out and be noticed, it was hard to unlearn that. But one of the key things was always to look and behave as ordinary as possible. To be utterly forgettable.

So he ties his hair up in a ponytail, dresses in normal high street clothes and adjusts his posture to relax from his soldier straight posture into an unobtrusive slouch. And that’s it.

No one so much as glances at him as he walks through the city.

He hasn’t gone far. Walking is far more difficult to track or block than transport. When they assume he’s already states away he’ll catch a bus, but for now he just stays on the move in the inner city. He doesn’t avoid surveillance; hiding from cameras, no matter how good at it he is, could draw attention. No one is going to look personally through all the feeds in the city. Instead of hiding his face completely, he turns at slight angles to show as few facial markers as he can. Hopefully it’ll be enough that facial recognition will struggle.

He has no plans or goals at present, he just means to avoid everyone who is looking for him until he can decide what to do.

So he’s wandering aimlessly around the city when every last one of the big, bright screens in Times Square turns to a little stationary cartoon drawing of a blonde woman with the words ‘N’s little sis ran away’ written at the top. Another picture slides in front of the first, this one of a blond guy with an exaggerated cheesy grin, complete with toothpaste commercial glint, childishly drawn muscled arm around a guy with a massive scowl and long brown hair. Bucky gets it almost immediately. The first bit is obvious, it’s not exactly coded beyond Stark’s usual bizarre way of talking. The second is hopefully less so: The black widow thinks Bucky is still with Steve.

Steve’s in danger.

It takes an aggravatingly long time to find someone willing to let him use their cell phone. He almost feels sorry for what he’s bringing down on the poor guy who finally hands over a slightly battered iPhone with a smile and a ‘don’t worry about it, I never use my minutes’, but then he thinks of Steve and he gets over it.

Stark answers straight away. “I assume you got my message? What did you think? It’s not great technically but I like to think it shows a certain artistic flair.”

“Have you told Steve?” Bucky says, ignoring Stark’s babble.

“I have. He’s more worried about you. He’s going out of his mind a little,” Stark replies. “The guy seems to think I can do pretty much anything with technology, which is flattering and mostly accurate, but finding you when you don’t want to be found could actually be one of those things I can’t do. Yet, anyway.”

“Do you know where he is?”

Stark hums. “Mostly. I’m not keeping as close tabs as usual, but I can find out if you want to go make up with him.”

“No,” Bucky snaps. “It’s safer this way.”

“Beg to differ, but okay. I can’t make you. So what did you want his location for?” Stark asks.

Bucky considers. On the one hand, his every instinct goes against letting Stark near Steve again. On the other, he’d far rather Stark than a black widow. Stark might try to kill Steve, but a black widow looking for Bucky would torture him first. “I don’t. I want you to go to him. Protect him.”

“Not to be rude, but I’m leaning towards telling you to do it your goddamned self,” Stark responds evenly. “We have a truce right now, and I’m doing my due diligence by keeping you updated and passing notes for you two while you’re on the outs, but I have my own shit to deal with and I’m still not ready to be bestest buddies with you guys just yet.”

“It’s safer for both of you,” Bucky points out. “You make a good team.” Or at least they did before Bucky came back.

Stark laughs at that. “You’ve got to be kidding, right? If I turn up on Cap’s doorstep without you the only way in which I’ll be safer will be avoiding being recognized with my mangled face.”

Bucky resists the urge to crush the phone. “You have a truce.”

“Yeah, one that mostly hinges on keeping you safe. If I let you run off into the woods with an assassin on your trail while I beg Cap and his merry men to protect me that truce will end bloody before the black widow ever gets near us,” Stark says. “Besides, he has the rest of Team Cap to look out for him. And having been up against them before I’m willing to say he’s probably pretty safe.”

“Steve’s not thinking clearly. He’s vulnerable. The others are good at what they do, but they’re all following his orders and most of them are inexperienced. He needs-“

“Not my problem,” Stark interrupts. “Completely and utterly not my problem. It has never been my problem, but if it ever was then it stopped being around the same time he beat me to a bloody pulp the first time.”

Bucky growls. “You were attacking us!”

“Difference being, I was trying to capture you. You were trying to kill me.”

“That’s not what it looked like at the time,” Bucky says. Then breathes. He doesn’t have time for this. He has no doubt Stark has already tracked his location. Only worry for Steve has kept him on the phone this long. “If you really want to stop the fighting then you’ll do this.”

“No dice,” Stark replies. “You want me to go hang with Captain Rage-issues then you have to give me something to calm the savage beast.”

Bucky grits his teeth. “What do you want?”

“As I said, turn up without you and all Cap’s gonna hear is ‘please pulverize me’.”

“I can’t.”

“Eh. Worth a shot,” Stark says. “What you can do is keep up these little talks. I go in with regular info on how you’re doing and a way to get info back to you then Cap might just hold off on the pulverizing. And don’t even try to tell me half the reason you want me to do this isn’t so you can keep better tabs on Steve.”

Bucky hesitates. “One call a week. No details. Fifteen seconds max.”

“One call a day. Details on your health, both physical and mental. Two minutes max,” Stark returns.

Bucky frowns. “One call every three days or as soon after any incidents as possible. Details on physical health only. Thirty seconds. Steve doesn’t get to use the phone.”

“Done,” Stark answers gleefully.

“You spend too much time with Natalia,” Bucky grumbles.

Stark laughs a little, less bitter this time. “Yeah. Well, I’d better get going. I haven’t actually told Steve about Yelena yet. I figured you’d call and I didn’t want to be on the receiving end when he found out you’re all alone with a black widow after you. This’ll make things easier.”

Stark hangs up before Bucky can yell at him.

Bucky clears Stark’s number off the phone, walks back to the still smiling owner and hands it back. Just this once he catches a cab to the other side of town, speed of exit winning out over concerns of surveillance with the knowledge that Stark knows where he is.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been umming and ahhing about this chapter, but I figured I'd let you guys read it and if there's anything drastically wrong with it you can tell me and I can edit it

“So.”

Steve stares in disbelief at the man in front of him. “What are you doing here?”

Stark smiles but with his bare face and flat hair it looks more tired than Stark-esque. “Message from your boyfriend.”

“Bucky?” Steve asks. His hand tightens on the doorframe enough to leave faint fingerprints in the wood before he reminds himself to relax his grip.

Stark nods. “More like orders actually. After I told him… Wait, let me start at the beginning. Do you have any booze? Coffee? Rubbing alcohol? Really, anything will do.” He pauses a moment and visibly resists rubbing his eyes. “The black widow got out. She’s after Barnes and as far as she’s concerned, he’s with you. Even if she’s figured out he’s not, you’re still her best lead. What with the bond transcending death and war and brainwashing and all, it’s a fair assumption to make that you’d know where he is. I mean, up until like, three hours ago, I knew where he was. Mostly because he’s kinda sloppy at covering his tracks when he’s worried about you. Which is also a problem. Not because I much care if she finds him, I mean he’d probably kill her anyway, he managed to shoot Nat a couple times. I’d kinda like tickets to that match. Anyway-“

“Stark. Focus,” Steve interrupts with gritted teeth. The ‘or I’ll make you’ is heavily implied.

“Right. Point. Yeah. Your bestest buddy told me to come babysit you.”

Steve closes his eyes and breathes before he can do something ill-advised like punch Stark in the face before he’s told Steve everything. “Why?”

“As previously mentioned, he’s kinda dumb when it comes to you. I mean, I was as shocked as you when he asked me of all people to look after you, but I guess he was impressed by my robots or something. Or maybe he just thought you’d kill me and he’d have one less problem to deal with. I don’t know. Pretty sure the guy still has most of his screws loose so your guess is as good as mine. But I did manage to get him to promise me something,” Stark says and pauses with raised eyebrows.

Steve takes the bait, more than a little panicked at what Bucky might have promised Stark. “What did he promise you?”  
Stark grins. “He’s gonna call me every three days for thirty seconds to let you know he’s alive and kicking. He made me agree I wouldn’t let you on the phone, so you’re going to have to keep me in one piece if you want contact with him.”

“Why did you agree?” Steve asks, trying hard not to think too much about Bucky not wanting to talk to him.

Stark shrugs uncomfortably. “Safety in numbers. I’m a target too. She’s gotta know that if anyone can find him, it’s me or Vision. Vision is safely out of reach, and no, I’m not telling you where. So that leaves little old me stuck between you, a highly skilled assassin and the every security agency this country, and a few others, has. I figured with Bucky-Bear’s phone calls as a bargaining chip you’re the least likely to attack or imprison me.”

Steve pauses. Tries to think clearly. Fails completely. “Come in before someone sees you.”

Steve’s relieved Sam took Wanda out for a walk a while ago, though knowing Stark, he probably waited for just that eventuality before coming to the door. As it is, Sharon glares strongly enough that Steve’s half worried she’ll manifest the power to make Stark’s head explode.

“Hey, Ronron,” Stark says nonsensically.

Sharon’s glare intensifies.

Steve frowns. “What?”

Stark rolls his eyes. “We have an Aunt Peg in common. I was there for Sharon’s semi-verbal phase when she bestowed cute toddler nonsense nicknames on everyone including herself. It stuck in the family.”

“She’s not your Aunt,” Sharon snaps. “And we are not family.”

Stark shrugs one shoulder. “Whatever. I called her Aunt Peg before you were even a glint in your daddy’s eye.”

“You can’t call dibs on people,” Sharon honest to god pouts.

“Is this some kind of… weird cousin rivalry or something?” Steve asks warily.

“He’s not my cousin. What is he doing here?”

“Don’t mind Ronron. She’s still bitter that I was right about her bosses being shady,” Stark says.

“Really? I thought I was mad because you’re an irresponsible alcoholic who won’t share his toys with the good guys and prefers to blow up random buildings. With people in them,” Sharon answers. “Wait, actually the whole letting SI sell weapons to terrorists thing was what set me off. I warned you and you blew me off-“

“Like I could be expected to listen to trickle down Chinese whispers from someone barely old enough to wipe their own ass, over my own board.”

“I was right!”

“You had a lucky guess! If there was anything to it, someone with actual sources would have told me-“

“Stop it. Both of you,” Steve orders. “Stark’s here because Bucky wanted him here and because we might need the backup.”

“So what was yours?” Clint asks once the others have stopped posturing. Mostly.

“What?” Stark asks, eyes still locked on Sharon.

“Your cute toddler nonsense name,” Clint says.

Sharon looks ready to murder everyone in the room, while Stark looks faintly upset for a moment before plastering on a condescending smile. “Mine was Toey. Apparently adding an ‘N’ to her own name was easier than pronouncing the one in mine.”

“Ronron and Toey. That’s adorable,” Clint chuckles. At the matching set of stares, he raises his eyebrows. “What? It is.”

“You know, sometimes I’m not sure you know all this fighting is serious and not a really vicious game of capture the flag,” Stark says.

Clint grins. “I signed up for the team leader with the flag plastered all over him. I already won.”

Steve gives in to the urge to rub his face, fingers trailing back and pulling at his own hair. “Sharon, could you go and find Wanda and Sam? I don’t want Wanda to be surprised by this.” They all know what could happen if Wanda gets a shock.

Sharon nods reluctantly and leaves, not before telling them over her shoulder that if she comes back to yelling, she’s going to start shooting.

It takes roughly twenty minutes of Stark’s tangential rambling for him to fully detail his conversation with Bucky, and partially detail his conversation with Banner. At some point Clint leaves and comes back with a huge cup of coffee, dumping it in Stark’s hands with a muttered ‘I swear you’ve got ADHD or something’ and Stark’s rambling slows and clears a little.

Steve wishes he could stop worrying about Natasha and Bruce, and even Vision a little. They’re on opposite sides. They’ve fought. They’ve hurt each other badly in every way possible. But there’s some part of him that still thinks of them as his team. A small, broken part that somehow holds conviction that this will all blow over and he’ll be curled up watching 80s movies with Natasha, Bruce and Tony making appearances to make coffee at semi regular intervals, science babble coming and going with them. Vision and Wanda sat in the next room discussing topics none of the other Avengers could wrap their heads around and that would cause Tony to wrinkle his nose and mutter about the laws of physics and how there should be prison sentences for breaking them. Clint texting Natasha about his daughter’s latest attempts at escaping bed time.

He tries to imagine, for a second, Bucky on his other side on the couch, and he can’t. His old team and his new team were never meant to mesh.

“Anyway,” Stark says, having drained half the coffee and sat inhaling the steam for a few moments once his story was complete. “The cliffnotes is we’re all screwed to varying degrees, and I’m trying to make as many people not screwed as possible in the hopes they can keep each other not screwed when my major screwing catches up with me.”

“You signed the damn thing. You fought us. You’ll be in the least trouble out of all of us,” Steve says.

Stark meets Clint’s eyes. They exchange a dark half-smile. “Not how it works, Cap. I was their figure head and I did something they didn’t want me to. In their eyes, I defected, and that’s far more dangerous than never having been on their side to begin with. I’m proof that they aren’t doing what they said they would, and I’m the kind of person who can get things heard. They’ll want me out of the picture pronto in case I publicly disavow them.”

“And will you?”

“What? Disavow them?” Stark stares into his coffee. “Sure. Disavow the register? No. I’ll do whatever I can to get their grubby mitts off it, maybe change up a few things, but I still think it’s the right way to go. This wasn’t just Ross and his cronies idea, there are plenty of us that want a register, and plenty more ordinary people who want to know they have some degree of protection from us.”

Steve opens his mouth, ready to argue.

“Let me just ask you something before you give me your righteous speech on why I’m wrong and an asshole, okay?” Stark cuts in.

Reluctantly, Steve nods.

“When you joined the military, you gave them your real name, all your medical and relevant personal history, right?” Stark waits for an answer.

“Yes.”

“And you gave them the right to bring you up on charges within their own judicial system. Gave them the power to give you orders, to decide where and where not you would be deployed. Gave them power over who you fought beside, what actions you took. Right?” Stark doesn’t wait for an answer this time. “You joined to save people, to stop the Nazis. You joined to be a hero, given the serum a very high profile one. And you gave them all that power over you willingly.”

“It’s not the same!” Steve protests. “We didn’t have Nazis hidden in our ranks who could take advantage-“

“The history books and living witnesses would disagree with you there, Cap, but go on.”

Steve glares. “It wasn’t the same. And I didn’t always follow orders in case you missed that in your history books.”

“No, I’m well aware,” Stark leans back in his chair, all arrogance. “And if you’d been anyone else, you might well have been court marshalled. That’s if they didn’t shoot you for desertion before they took in the whole situation.

“This is the same. No one can force you to do something here, they can order you to and they can mete out punishment if you disobey. They can attempt to restrain you. Keyword being ‘attempt’. You could sign, disobey orders, run away from the consequences, and where would you be? Right back here. Nothing lost except maybe a little dignity.”

“I’m not just thinking about myself. Not everyone could ‘run away’ if they needed to,” Steve argues. “If I sign now I lose the power to help those people. I might even influence them to sign, too. I can’t do that. I won’t.”

Stark nods, lips twitching unhappily. “I can’t even argue with that one. Not right now, anyway.”

The next point in Steve’s argument dies on his lips as he stares for just a moment at his ex-teammate. Stark looks tired, a little hopeless. Haunted.

Then Stark perks up again. “Hey, does this mean I’ll get to look at Wilson’s wings? I put in the work on the initial designs before they got sold, but I had nothing to do with half those features and I have my suspicions about who designed them, but he won’t confirm or deny ‘cause he’s an ungrateful asshole. But one look, _one look_ , and I’ll know for sure.”

A short burst of knocks and Steve goes to open the door.

“A secret knock? Seriously? You guys are killing me here,” Stark says.

Steve ignores him.

Sharon leads the group in, face nearly blank in a look Steve was beginning to recognize as her forcing herself calm. Next is Sam, who minus a little extra wariness around the eyes, looks the same as always. Last is Wanda, who doesn’t look at a single member of the group, instead heading immediately for the stairs.

“That went better than I expected,” Clint says.

Stark makes a noise of agreement and stares at the empty cup in his hands.

Steve isn’t so sure. “Keep an eye on him,” he instructs Clint, then follows Wanda upstairs.

She’s as near to the window as she can get, staring out at the world with her shoulders high enough that she looks cold instead of just defensive. “You said he wouldn’t use Bucky against us.”

“He’s not,” Steve answers. “Bucky told him to come here.”

Wanda turns. “Did he? And do you have anything other than Stark’s word to support that claim?”

“No.”

She nods. “As I thought.”

“I don’t think Stark would lie about that,” Steve says.

“No, he isn’t.”

He stops. “What?”

“He isn’t lying,” Wanda asserts. “His mind is chaotic as always, but there is no sign of deception.”

“You’re doing better at the whole mind reading thing.” Steve tries not to sound suspicious, but you don’t get good at something without practice.

Wanda makes a noncommittal noise. “Regardless of Bucky’s intentions, Stark could have said no.”

“And what are you getting from him on that? Why did he say yes?” Steve asks. He shouldn’t. He doesn’t agree with reading someone’s mind without consent. But he can’t deny his curiosity and paranoia.

“He doesn’t know either. He’s confused about his own motives. Scared," Wanda says, "even Stark himself can't predict what he'll do next. If anything that's more dangerous than if he was scheming against us."

“To me that just says we have a chance to talk to him. To show him our side. So what’s the problem here? I’m not expecting you to be overjoyed, but if you know he’s not doing this to hurt us…” Steve shrugs.

“You didn’t know that when you let him in. Your willful blindness when it comes to Bucky is dangerous for us all. I trusted you when you asked me to, and I will for a while yet. But there is only so far you can take this. You need to start thinking of more than just Bucky,” Wanda says, “and you need to stop thinking of our enemies as your friends. They aren’t. Not anymore.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is pretty dialogue heavy and actionless, but I wanted to write Nat and I haven't got any action for her yet. It just kinda happened. The next chapter will get back to plot and stuff, I promise

Tony calls Nat only a few hours after Team Cap agreed to let him hang out with them. It’s only fair she and the rest of his team know what’s going on, and he wants to check in anyway.

She picks up after the second ring. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just a status update. I got in touch with Barnes,” Tony says.

“And?”

“And he asked me to go stay with Team Cap. I got him to agree to keep me posted on his own situation every three days if I did.”

To her credit she doesn’t ask why he wants the updates or why he agreed to stay with Steve. “What about Vision?”

“Not here. Still keeping out of sight. He knows what’s going on, though. I’ve got him monitoring all my phone communications. I don’t want to bring him down here until I know where we stand.” He sighs. “When did everything get so fucked up?”

Natasha snorts. “It always has been.”

“True. How’re things your end?”

“The same as when Bruce called. Pepper asked me how you were,” Natasha says, “I didn’t say much. I don’t want to put her in that position.”

“Thank you,” Tony says. Pepper knows the risks, but she’s not used to this illegal stuff. One wrong word and all the protection he’s set up to prove she has no affiliations with his illegal activities could be blown to smithereens. She’s not stupid enough to say anything particularly incriminating, but spies and interrogators were usually pretty good at their jobs and he’d rather not risk it. The thing people often forget about Pepper is her temper. She’s smart, she’s cool and composed, she’s an excellent diplomat. But she’s also a hot head. There’s a reason he gave her the nickname ‘Pepper’ and it wasn’t just punning value.

“She wasn’t happy.”

Tony laughs. “Yeah, I bet.”

“She said to tell you to fix this fuckery and come home. She misses you.” Natasha adds, “The only way you can do that is to make some allies.”

“Yeah, I know. Easier said than done. All the allies I’ve got are out of reach unless I want them hidden away in a secret prison somewhere, or dead. Anyone that’s left… Well. I’m working on it but right now the best way to describe our relationship is full of impotent hate,” Tony says.

“Clint doesn’t hate you. Steve only hates you for as long as you’re a threat to his people, and from the way Barnes opened up to you, I’m betting on him warming up to you. Wanda… Maybe. If you can prove trustworthy. But she’s a teenager, they’re more difficult,” She says. “Sam likes who Steve likes and you know Sharon better than I do.”

“Are you coming up with strategies for me to make friends right now?” Tony asks.

A moment of silence, then; “If you don’t want my help-“

“No! No, I’m… I am more than happy to be helped. I’ve just never heard you do this out loud. It’s kinda cute actually. In a weird, terrifying way. I have images of little baby Natasha coming up with game plans to get the other girls to like her,” Tony says. “Writing down strategies in green crayon.”

“The other girls liking you wasn’t a plus where I grew up,” Natasha points out. “And there were no crayons.”

Tony hums. “True. Maybe if you’d had an actual childhood. Maybe we should have some sleepovers and watch shitty kids movies, get you a Tamagotchi and a few dolls. Let you catch up with the rest of us.”

“You played with dolls, Stark?”

“Bitch please. I didn’t just play with dolls, I _revolutionized_ dolls. My Barbie and G.I Joe played with _themselves_.”

“Sounds a boring way to play if your games don’t require you,” She says.

Tony waves a hand she can’t see through the audio only call. “I played with my Captain America figurine. I left him untampered with. It just meant other kids weren’t required.”

“It’s sounding like you’re the one who could use those sleepovers,” Natasha teases.

“You may be right.”

“How much contact do you get with Barnes?” She switches topics a little awkwardly but Tony isn’t about to complain. Especially since he knows she could have manipulated a topic change with ease had she thought she had to.

“Thirty seconds every three days. Not a lot of time for buddying up.”

“So you’ve got to keep him talking longer,” She says. “The first couple of phone calls he’ll keep to the thirty seconds. Maybe even cut them short. But he’s got to be wanting contact and you’re the only person he’s given himself permission to talk to. Once you prove you won’t try to force him to stay on the line he’ll ease up. He might backtrack a couple of times once he realises he’s letting his rules slip. Let him. Don’t push anything. Let him feel in control.”

“Uhuh. And how do I keep him talking?”

Natasha sighs. “As if you need tips on that. All you need to do differently is not push him. He’ll want to talk. He may even come up with reasons to amend the rules. Just let him. Keep up your obnoxious chattering and feed him little bits of information he wants but might not ask for.”

“Seems easy enough. And the others?” Tony asks.

“They’ll warm up to you the more trustworthy you prove yourself. Steve’s going to want information on Barnes. He won’t be difficult so long as you let him in, let him know what’s going on. Volunteer information without him having to ask, prove you’re mending fences with Barnes,” Natasha advises. “Sharon feels you don’t respect her. So show her respect. Prove her wrong. Don’t play on your past, she doesn’t want to be the baby in your anecdotes.”

“Oops.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Please continue.”

“Sam and Clint are easy. They don’t hate or even really dislike you. Once Steve trusts you again, so will they,” Natasha continues. “With Wanda the important thing to remember is that she’s a traumatised teenage orphan. She’ll latch onto people, either as negatives or positives, and you’re a negative. Right now she needs that. Trying too hard to fix it right away will destabilise her. She needs constants, not change. Take it slow, don’t rip any rugs out from under her. Just be there. Consistency is key.”

“So like a pissed off child of divorce times a gazillion,” Tony jokes.

“Sure, if that child had her whole family die horrifically, some of them in front of her, and can hear every bad thought you have,” Natasha says drily.

“Hence the times a gazillion but whatever. Any other tips?”

“No. That’s about all you’ve got the subtlety for.”

“Gee, thanks. You’re a real pal,” Tony fakes offence.

Natasha laughs quietly. “You’ll do fine. People like you, Tony. You’ve always had charisma and you know it. Add some honesty and loyalty and people fall all over you. Just don’t pull your usual trick of deliberately pissing people off when they don’t agree with you right away.”

“Okay. Cool. Don’t deliberately piss people off. Don’t be nice to the teenager. Got it.”

“Stop being cute. This is important, you can’t afford to screw this up,” Natasha orders. “Keep me updated. It might even help if you get the others on the phone to me some time. Same goes for Vision, you know Wanda likes him.”

“Yes ma’am. I’m gonna go now, people to manipulate, bad guys to blow up and all that.”

“It’s not manipulation if it’s honest,” Natasha points out.

“Fine. But ‘making friends’ makes me sound much less cool and badass. Take care.”

“You too.”

 

“So I talked to Natasha,” Tony announces the next day. He figured letting things settle a few hours was the best bet. Also, cowardice. Lots of cowardice.

Clint looks up. “We can do that now?”

Tony narrows his eyes. Clint’s face was far too innocent. “I wasn’t aware there was some kind of rule against it.”

“Fraternising with the enemy,” Clint winks.

“See, here I was thinking you and Nat were never enemies. Reminds me of this historical guy that used to marry off his kids to people on the opposite sides of wars so that his family would always be in good stead no matter who won,” Tony says.

Clint smiles beatifically and says nothing.

Tony eyes him suspiciously a moment longer before looking around for the others’ reactions. “She did actually say you guys should call her sometime.”

Steve nods wordlessly and Tony transfers his suspicious gaze.

“Seriously? Were you all secretly talking to Nat and I didn’t know?” Tony asks. “What am I talking about? Of course you were. Our very own Black Widow would make a point of keeping contact. Anyway, she says call her. Maybe she just meant we should all tell each other we call her, I don’t know.”

Clint snorts.

“Also, she says you’re a traumatised teen and I shouldn’t try to get you to like me. You cool with that?” Tony directs at Wanda. Hey, the kid can read minds. She probably knew already.

Wanda frowns in slight confusion. “If that means I do not have to talk to you, I am more than ‘cool’ with it.”

Tony smiles only a little sarcastically. “Great. That makes things much less awkward. Do you guys have plans to move location any time soon? Because this place was ridiculously easy to find. I didn’t even have to use your coms. I mean, I did. But I didn’t have to. And I’m not feeling great about spending another night here, no matter how inept the people after us seem to be.”

“Bucky knows where to find us here,” Steve says.

“Riiiight. I’m not seeing that as a plus in the security column. If he knows, he might not be the only one. Besides, if he needs to find us he’s got my number.” Tony waggles his phone in Steve’s face, gleeful in the knowledge that Steve wouldn’t risk breaking it, no matter how annoyed he gets.

Steve frowns and Tony suddenly remembers Natasha’s advice about not deliberately pissing people off. Oops.

Tony sighs. “Fine. What if we leave tomorrow? We can leave late so there’s less than twenty-four hours before Barnes calls again and we can update him.”

Clint shifts. “He does have a point.”

Steve looks conflicted, but after a moment his shoulders drop. “Alright. We move tomorrow.”

Tony notes with interest that Sharon looks relieved. Secure in the knowledge she’ll agree anyway giving him a majority, Tony decides to deploy a little of that ‘showing respect’ nonsense Nat had told him about. “You didn’t exactly consult the whole team there, Cap.” He nods towards Sharon and Sam. He doesn’t bother including Wanda. Teens do what the grown-ups say anyway. Well. Most teenagers. He wasn’t so much with the parental guidance when he was a teen, the few times it was given.

Sharon looks surprised. Sam looks… Well. Sam always looks slightly amused, very patient and unconcerned. Unless he’s kicking the shit out of you. Then he gets a look of slight annoyance. Must be a therapist type thing, what with the counselling wounded veterans and petting stray dogs and stray Avengers thing he’s got going on.

Steve looks at the three who didn’t weigh in. “Anything to add?”

Sam shakes his head. “Sounds good to me.”

“We could do with moving regularly,” Sharon reluctantly agrees. Tony likes to think she looks marginally less angry than usual.

Wanda doesn’t say anything, despite several moments of uncomfortable, expectant silence.

“Okay. Good,” Steve says.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for the bad proofreading. Hopefully it's still all legible.

It feels wrong. Leaving the last place Bucky knew to look for them. The last place he’d been there for the planning of.

But Steve’s been trying to listen to his people more and they want to move. Not to mention Tony is a lot more convincing as the point of contact between Steve and Bucky. He hates that he’s so easily influenced, that he has such a large, gaping weak spot, but he doesn’t know how change it. It’s always been him and Bucky against the world. Bucky’s practically another part of him, another limb or brain hemisphere and he doesn’t know how to function without him properly.

If there’s anything Stark’s arrival has shown him it’s how right Wanda had been to question his judgement when it comes to anything Bucky related. He hadn’t even hesitated before inviting Stark to join them.

Still. He has a lot more people to worry about now. It’s not just him and Bucky anymore and he can’t act as though it is. He needs to look out for his whole team, not just his second.

It’s also strange working with Stark again. After everything.

A part of him might mistakenly call it… Nice. For all the friction and disagreement, Stark was the closest to an equal Steve ever had. The likes of Fury were his superiors, if only in rank and power. Everyone else took orders from him. Even Peggy and Bucky had adhered to his chain of command, if with rolled eyes and good natured ribbing. Stark was neither superior nor subordinate. While Steve was leader of the Avengers of which Stark was a member, as major financial backer and provider of their increasingly necessary tech, the Avengers answered to Stark in more ways than Steve was comfortable admitting. Their equal footing could just have easily been their saving grace instead of their downfall. They could have held each other in check had they clashed less and talked more.

But then then as the old adage went, ‘if ifs and buts were candy and nuts…’

They made their choices. All there is left to do is make the best of it.

He lets Sam choose their next safe location, which turns out to be out of the city. A house belonging to an old friend, old enough that it’d take some time for those chasing them to pick up on.

It’s still close, they can get back quickly enough if needed, but it still feels too much like running away.

“Cheer up, Cap. Be hearing from your boy soon, woulda thought that’d turn your frown upside-down,” Stark quips lightly. “Assuming he calls on time. He wasn’t exactly the picture of stability and reliability last time I saw him. Does the guy actually know how to shave? Or was that, like, something you did for him and then Hydra took up his personal grooming, and now he’s just wandering around staring at razors in confusion? Nevermind, stupid question. There are electric razors now. Even a baby could use one of those. He probably just likes the rugged look.”

Steve does his best to drown out Stark’s rambling. Sharon, on the other hand, elbows him. Steve knows she did because he saw it in the rearview mirror.

“Cap! Abuse of a POW here! She’s acting against the Geneva convention!” Stark says, poking Sharon in the arm.

Steve rubs at his temple.

“You’re not a POW, you’re here of your own free will. And against mine,” Sharon says, fending off his poking finger and flicking him on the nose.

Steve’s fingers stop rubbing and cradles his forehead in his palm.

“Ow! Would you- Hey! Leave it-“ Stark’s cut off protestations run on for a few seconds before his triumphant huff.

“Stark just stole my phone,” Sharon complains.

“Well you guys took mine,” Stark replies.

“Because you might run off with it at the next gas station and tell someone where we’re going,” Sharon answers.

“Why would I even do that? That makes no- Ow! Cap, call your pet spy off. I’m trying to do something here,” Stark whines.

Sharon makes another grab for the phone. “Yeah, but what exactly is it you’re trying to do?”

Stark keeps typing as he fends her off. “Stop it! I swear to God I will throw this phone out of the window before I let you snatch it out of my hand.”

“It’s my goddamn phone!”

“Stark, what are you doing?” Sam asks.

Steve shoots his a grateful look and goes back to avoiding the situation as fully as possible while in a moving vehicle with it.

 

They’re all trying to focus on their new hideout, but Tony can feel the eyes on him as the clock ticks closer to the time he’s expecting Barnes to call. He can’t blame them really, being on the run is actually pretty boring. Minimal internet access, no real connection with the outside world, no going out.

The call comes half an hour late, just as Tony’s beginning to wonder if maybe Barnes didn’t take the ‘three days’ bit quite so precisely as Tony did.

“Y’ello?” Tony answers as obnoxiously as he can. It’s worth it for the glare he gets off Cap’n’Co.

“Are you with them?” Barnes’ voice comes through, tone wary and guarded as ever.

Tony looks around and gives Cap a winning smile. “As we speak,” He says and quickly rattles off their current location.

Barnes makes a noise of understanding. “Is he alright?”

“Yup. Apart from that stick up his ass, any and all attempts to remove it have failed. Are you?”

Barnes pauses and Tony glances involuntarily at the clock.

“Yes.”

“Someone’s fibbing. C’mon. You can tell me,” Tony prods.

“I had an… encounter. I’m fine,” Barnes replies sullenly.

Tony frowns. “An encounter with who?”

Steve makes to grab the phone and Tony leans back, shaking his head.

“The black widow. Not Natalia, the other one,” Barnes answers.

“Uhuh. And you’re fine? You sure about that?”

Barnes huffs down the phone. “You’re wasting time.”

“Fine. Alright. You’re a-okay. So, any further instructions now I’m in with the gang?” Tony catches Steve’s eye and holds it, presses speaker just in time for the guy to hear Barnes’ words clearly.

“Tell Steve to stay out of the way until I deal with Yelena. I need him to be safe.”

The connection cuts and Tony pockets the phone before anyone can confiscate it again. “Well, there you have it folks. Barnes is doing fine and wishes you all the best.”

Steve, if anything, looks more perturbed than before. “He’s going to try to take on the black widow by himself.”

Tony shakes his head. “Not yet he isn’t.”

“How can you be sure?” Steve asks. “He just said he was going to take care of her.”

“Yep. But he’s also a mess, and he knows it. He’s not going to pull anything stupid, not yet,” Tony says. “I can’t be sure, but as long as he thinks you’re safe, he’s not going to do anything that might jeopardize that.”

The second call is a shock. It’s 1 am and he’s been trying to force his body to go against habit and get some sleep.

He answers the phone with a vague air of annoyance, expecting Bruce or Natasha on the other end asking for an update or delivering more bad news.

Instead he gets Barnes’ voice telling him not to alert the others.

“Oh, hey Brucey, whatchya doing calling at this time? Have you got machinations against my virtue?” Tony answers fluidly. There’s no one in the room with him, but certain people in the house have super hearing. He’s using all his other faculties to simulate a wet dream to keep the mind reading brat out of his head.

“I didn’t know if I’d get honest answers while Steve was around,” Barnes says, and Tony can hear the defensiveness in his tone. This was a man excusing his actions.

Tony shifts up the sleeping bag until he’s sitting against the wall. “Sure. Well, I was honest actually. Some might call it a first. How are you doing?”

“I’m a little… shot.”

Tony whistles. “I can see why you might not have mentioned that before.”

“Steve would have worried. I’m fine. It’s the mechanical arm,” Barnes says.

“Is it still working okay?”

Barnes makes a noncommittal noise. “Well enough. It’ll need fixing eventually.”

“I would help you out there, but I’m a little far away,” Tony says.

“Tell me how to fix it.”

Tony laughs. “I’d love to, but without knowing what the problem is exactly…”

The phone pings and Tony pulls it away from his ear. There’s a picture of Barnes’ arm, a bullet hole in the inside of the elbow where the joint is weakest.

“I got the bullet out, but there’s something grinding in there. I don’t have full movement,” Barnes says.

“Okay. Right. Um, I’m still not really sure I can help you out on this one.” After a moment’s consideration, he ventures. “Can I send you to someone? Like, not to stay or anything, and they’re trustworthy and all. But I don’t think this is something I can talk you through on the phone.”

“No.”

Tony sighs. “Of course. Right. So you’re going to need to slide back the plating and send me another picture.”

It takes nearly an hour. Tony’s surprised at first, partly that Barnes risks the line for that long, though Tony does let him know every few minutes that FRIDAY still has the line secured, partly that Cap doesn’t figure out what’s up and come storming in demanding answers. After a while he relaxes into it, lingering over each picture of the arm before he reluctantly deletes them from his phone. He was right, he can’t talk Barnes through fixing it, not completely, but he does manage to locate the problem and give Barnes a temporary work around.

“You’ll need proper parts after a while, and this’ll make things start to come loose so you’ll need to keep tuning it up, but you should be set for now,” Tony says as Barnes makes the final adjustments.

“Can you…”

Tony pauses. “What’s up?”

“The arm. I managed to get it back online after I… Hit you. Back at the tower. But I can’t get the strength back,” Barnes admits reluctantly.

Tony whistles. “I’m surprised you managed to do that much. I mean, obviously or I’d have made it harder. But wow. You got some skills there.”

“Stark.”

“Right. Right, it’s not the arm. Or well, not just the arm,” Tony tells him. “That’s why bringing it back online didn’t fix it. It’s got an inhibitor in the shoulder, at the back where you can’t reach. I can get FRIDAY to disable it, just keep your phone on and in range after we end the call. Oh, and don’t hit anyone with it until the inhibitor is off or it’ll go offline again.”

“I figured that out,” Barnes says drily. “How do I get the inhibitor out?”

“You can’t.”

“Stark.”

Tony huffs. “I mean it. You can’t. I could. I know a couple other people that could. But you can’t. And even if you could I wouldn’t tell you how. I’m taking a big enough risk turning it off in the first place.”

Silence.

“Barnes?”

“You’re right. I could hurt someone. Might not even be on purpose,” Barnes says. “Maybe you shouldn’t turn the inhibitor off.”

Tony blinks. “Well, no, because now you’ve got to be able to defend yourself. You don’t even have backup anymore. I can turn it off and if something happens-“

“Then it’ll be too late. Don’t turn it off.”

The line goes dead.

“Fuck!” Tony manages to keep his voice down just barely. Cap is going to kill him when he learns about the inhibitor. Tony knows damn well whatever phone Barnes was using won’t be within range of his arm again.

“How long before he needs those new parts?”

Tony jumps, curses again and spins around to where Steve is sat in the doorway watching him. “Um, I dunno. Depends on wear and tear. A couple of weeks, maybe? Longer if he can avoid using it too much.”

Steve nods.

“How long have you been creeping on me?”

“Since not long after you picked up the phone.”

Tony glares. “And you couldn’t let a guy know?”

“You might have given away the fact that I was there. Bucky wouldn’t have stayed on the line,” Steve says. “I needed to know how he’s doing. Really doing.”

“And you’re still here because..?” Tony asks.

“I want to know how you’re doing,” Steve says, chin jutted out in determination.

Tony stares for a second. “Really? Why?”

Steve’s jaw clenches for a second. “Like it or not, you’re a part of this team now.”

“So?”

“So it’s my job to look out for you,” Steve replies.

Tony laughs. “Thanks but it’s really not. And I’m fine.”

“You’re used to having…” Steve clearly runs out of words. “Used to a certain lifestyle. I want to know how you’re adjusting.”

“To being on the run in a comfy suburban home? I’m doing just swell,” Tony answers. Steve glares and Tony hold his hand up. “I’m serious. I lived six months in a cave. I can handle it.”

Steve eyes him unsurely. “Fine. If you need anything…”

“We both know I can get anything I need for myself.”

Steve nods and leaves.


	12. Chapter 12

“I talked to Clint.”

Tony rolls his eyes. “Yeah, no shit. So what?”

Natasha sighs down the phone, more a sign of exasperated affection than anything. If she was really annoyed she’d never be so obvious. “So you can’t make people like you when you refuse to like them.”

“What a surprise, the spies have been spying on me and critiquing my friend making skills. Or would that be remaking skills? I dunno, either way, invasion of privacy. And my privacy gets invaded enough lately what with bathroom sharing and morally corrupt mind readers,” Tony says.

“I mean it. You can’t expect them to mends fences when you’re deliberately laying down landmines in their way,” Natasha answers.

“Cool metaphor. Still not getting what you’re getting at.”

Natasha’s glare is so strong it invades his mind’s eye. “You know exactly what I mean, Tony. Clint says you keep giving him, and I quote “that terrifying, lecherous grin he gives people whose lives he’s planning on ruining”. You can’t get them to trust you and like you when you won’t offer the same in return.”

“Some wounds run a little deep for that, Nat. We’re not a team anymore. Never will be. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be reluctant allies, and that’s what I’m working for. I don’t trust any of them as far as I can throw them, and you can guarantee they trust me a lot less than that, but we need each other. And that’s something we can work with. If nothing else we can trust each other to watch our own backs, and right now that means watching everyone else’s,” Tony rants, images of Rhodey lying terrifyingly still replaying in his head. Never again. He swore that to Rhodey’s unconscious body as he lay in a hospital bed.

“Bullshit.”

“I’m sorry?” Tony snaps. “You think I should just forgive and forget what they put me through? What they put _the people I love_ through? Fuck you.”

“Tony, you and I have no room to talk about forgiveness.”

Silence reigns for a moment.

“They were fighting for survival. You can’t blame them for that,” Nat continues once her point has made its full impact.

“Rhodey and I wouldn’t have killed them.”

“I know that. They didn’t.”

Tony laughs bitterly at that. “I guess that ‘Merchant of Death’ thing will never really go away, huh? I’ll always be a blood-soaked maniac to them.”

“And I’ll always be a turncoat spy whose loyalties are questionable at best,” Natasha says calmly.

“Really? C’mon. No one thinks that.”

Nat hums. “Not explicitly. They just think I’m manipulative, cold and don’t make lasting emotional attachments. There’s no one I know that doesn’t at least have a moment’s doubt of my motivations when I speak to them. And they’re probably right, to some extent at least. I was raised to be in control of every situation. It’s a hard habit to break.”

“So that’s it? We’re both morally dubious at best and we should just learn to accept it?”

“Part of the territory. Steve is egotistical, self-righteous and judgmental. As a result, he acts impulsively, doesn’t respond well to criticism or negotiation, and is often extremely violent towards those he believes are wrong, sometimes even for minor transgressions. Clint is all kinds of emotionally unstable. Sharon is similar to Steve but with a follower mentality. If Steve told her to kill someone, she likely wouldn’t question it too deeply. Sam is pure follower. He follows who he thinks is right, not necessarily what he thinks is right. Wanda... Do I really need to describe Wanda? Scott is emotionally immature, doesn’t tend to think things through, though he’s still fairly unknown profile-wise. I haven’t spoken to him much. And, well I’m pretty sure we both know our side is more than willing to make morally grey compromises,” Natasha lists. “None of us are without our dangerous tendencies. The difference is, we acknowledge ours.”

“I thought you liked Steve?” Tony asks, if a little smugly.

Natasha huffs a quiet laugh. “I do like Steve. That doesn’t change anything I said. I like you, but I know damn well you’re an asshole.”

“Thanks, so are you.”

“I know.”

“Wait, are you manipulating me right now?” Tony teases. “Because if you are, could you give me a heads up on what you’re trying to get me to do? It’d really help speed things up.”

“Quit sulking and go make up with your friends,” Natasha answers.

“But I don’t wanna,” Tony whines.

Another small laugh. “I’ll call again soon.”

“Yeah, okay. Talk to you then.”

“Try to make at least one friend before I do.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Tony hangs up and turns back to the small tablet he found in a cupboard upstairs. It’d been broken, likely why it was left behind, but that didn’t pose much of a problem to him. Getting the tools to repair it had been a little awkward, as his set had been confiscated by team Cap along with his phone in the first two days. The phone he’d got back after Bucky’s first check in, the tools… They’d taken longer. He’d had to say what he wanted them for, stating his case like a requisition order.

Still, the result is a working tablet in his hands that he’s managed to hook up to several wifi routers in the area. He’s keeping things ticking as far as he can, overseeing Avengers business from afar, sneaking in design edits at S.I, keeping tabs on his friends and enemies alike. There’s not a lot he can do, but when there is he’ll know about it.

Then there’s Vision.

It’s a tall order to keep a bright red android-type-creature hidden, and he’s been putting off figuring out the situation for a while now. He can’t leave Vision all on his own much longer. Poor guy’s not even two yet and he’s cut off from everyone. But right now there aren’t a whole lot of options.

The only thing he can really do for now is-

“Goddamnit,” Tony mutters. He hates it when Nat thinks that far ahead of him. No one on the non-fugitive side can risk regular contact with Vision. It’s bad enough that Tony keeps checking in, but both would be too much, and either way, the person Vision bonded with most is just a couple of rooms away from Tony.

Wanda doesn’t jump when he enters. She probably had at least part of her focus on his surface thoughts, the little witch. She doesn’t speak either, or acknowledge his presence in any way until he speaks.

“Do I need to say anything or did you already pluck it from my head like a superpowered pickpocket?”

Wanda’s mouth twitches. Tony can’t tell whether it’s a suppressed smile or frown. Or maybe she just had an itch or something. “Steve has forbidden me from using my abilities without consent.”

“Well, ain’t that something,” Tony stands awkwardly for a moment. He’d been kind of hoping she had read his mind so he didn’t have to have an actual conversation with her. “So…”

Wanda looks unimpressed and remains silent. Tony swears it’s deliberate.

Another moment, during which Wands remains motionless and judgmental while Tony fidgets like a toddler on speed.

“You aren’t actually doing what Steve says, right?” Tony says eventually.

Wanda’s lips twitch again. Her head tilts ever so slightly, letting her hair drift over her shoulder in a slow cascade. It’s very eerie.

“…I’ll take that as ‘even if I am, I’m totally making you talk to me because I know how horribly uncomfortable you are and I’m enjoying it like the child sadist I am’,” Tony says.

“What do you want, Stark?”

“She speaks! I was actually kind of expecting you to give me the silent treatment until I babbled myself into an early grave. I-“ And here Tony runs out of steam. Sees a frightened little girl, and a Stark missile in his head so clear it throws him right back to Afghanistan. It isn’t Wanda playing with his head. She looks confused, slightly scared even, by his sudden change in attitude. He swallows past the lingering smell of hot sand and burning gasoline, burning flesh. “Vision’s alone. He could use a friend.” He throws her what he knows is a cold glance. “You’re it, honey. The only one he’s got.”

Wanda mirrors his swallow. “He has many friends.”

“Not like you. Not that… Not that didn’t know JARVIS first.” Even Tony, who understands just how fully JARVIS is gone, how much Vision isn’t him, even he has yet to fully accept it. Caring about Vision because he is Vision, and not because he is so very much like JARVIS, it’s hard and it’s painful and it means he has to let go of the sound of that voice meaning absolute trust and unquestionable loyalty.

And Wanda, who knows what it is to see death at Tony’s hand more than any one of Steve’s band of rebels, nods.

He nods back and leaves.

 

The time for Barnes’ next check in comes and passes with no phone call. Steve waited with him silently for two hours, leaving when Sam touches him lightly on the shoulder and leads him outside.

Wanda takes his place.

Neither says a word until the sounds of the others’ running feet have faded through the open window.

“I found Vision’s contact in my phone.”

“Bluetooth. It’s a whole thing. I can get in your tech like you can get in my brain.”

Wanda doesn’t respond and the quiet settles again.

Tony checks his phone for the thousandth time in an hour, checking nonsensically that his signal hasn’t changed, his battery hasn’t died, he hasn’t accidentally silenced it.

He’s idly rubbing at a greasy thumbprint on the screen when his phone rings. Only a lifetime of handling delicate tech and dangerous tools saves the phone from being thrown in surprise. As it is, he only stares blankly for a couple of seconds before blinking and answering.

“Howdy, Stark speaking. Unless you’re Yelena and you’ve killed Barnes and are tracking down his accomplices by calling them and seeing who answers. In which case I’m a phone sex line. A weird moody guy with a Captain America kink called recently and asked for a roleplay session, now I can’t get the voice quite right, but he seemed to be in it more for the storyline anyway,” Tony says before Barnes can say a word. “I can give you a sample if you wa-“

“Shut up, Stark,” Barnes interrupts. Tony would like to say he says it with amusement, but honestly he has no idea.

“Who is Stark? I’m Enrique Hardon, coming to you from Hot ‘n Heavy Hotlines,” Tony continues.

Wanda’s nose is wrinkled in distaste, either at the joke or Tony himself, he’s not sure which. He winks at her and accepts her returned glare with a taunting grin.

A pause ensues.

“You any good at mechanics, Enrique?” Barnes asks finally, hesitation in his voice, like he’s trying out something he’s not sure he knows how to do.

“I’m good at whatever you want, Big Boy.”

Wanda snorts quietly, then looks supremely pissed at herself for the slip.

Tony grins wider.

“Uhuh.” Another moment of silence before Barnes continues with forced confidence. “Well I scrounged some parts for this metal arm I got and I need a second opinion on ‘em before I crack her open,” Barnes says.

“Ooh, metal arm. I’m feeling temperature play and all kinds of slippery fun,” Tony resolutely ignores the Brooklyn accent just barely bleeding through in Barnes’ voice. “But I guess I better take a peek at your parts first.”

“Gotta at least take a fella to the movies before you peek at his parts, Enrique,” Barnes answers, though Tony’s phone chimes with a picture message seconds later.

Wanda looks torn between hysteria and horror.

“Hang on, we got an underage audience,” Tony says to Barnes and lowers the phone. “Kid, we both know there’s plenty other places you’d rather be. You can stick around if you want, but I can’t offer any brain bleach for when this is over with.”

Wanda’s jaw sets and Tony rolls his eyes.

“Whatever. It’s your scarred mental health.” He glances at the picture and raises the phone again. “Still there, Big Boy?”

“Hangin’ on your every word, Enrique.”

“Half of that is scrap but we can work with the first three and the fifth. Ready to strip for me?” Tony reaches for a bag of grapes he left on the coffee table and throws a couple to Wanda before popping one in his mouth.

“You gonna return the favour?”

“Ain’t got no parts like yours anymore but I got other parts I could show you some other time.” Tony watches as Wanda willfully resists an eye roll and turns the TV on at a low volume.

“Bare and waiting for instruction,” Barnes says, voice wavering on nervous again.

“Funny, I had you pegged as the bossy type,” Tony says absently, running through a mental image of the arm’s internal workings.

He must take too long to formulate the instructions, because his thoughts are interrupted by the picture message tone and Barnes saying, “Does this look right to you?”

Tony startles and looks at the picture. “You’re a quick learner.” He squints. “But you need to tighten the-“

“Got it.”

Tony laughs, he can’t help it. It’s a helpless burst of mirth and fondness and it comes out of nowhere. The anger rushes in soon after, a tightening in his core that won’t let him forget who he’s speaking to, or what the man has cost him. “Right,” He says, and winces at the sudden coldness in his voice. He didn’t intend it. “Think you can get the rest done without instruction?”

Wanda’s staring.

Tony avoids her gaze and looks out of the window.

“Yes. Nothing’s changed since my last check in besides the parts. Let me know how Steve is and we can end the call.” Barnes answers. The hints of Brooklyn have disappeared.

“He’s fine. He left when you didn’t call on time.”

“Good.”

The call disconnects and Tony curses.

“You could call him back,” Wanda suggests.

Tony shakes his head. “That’s not in the rules.”

“Three minutes.”

“Huh?”

“He stayed on the phone for three minutes. He broke the rules.”

Tony had noticed. He still can’t call back.

Wanda looks him up and down and tuts. Tony swears to god, it’s a tut.

“What?”

“He did not speak that much with any of us before he left,” Wanda tells him. “Even Steve barely got response from him other than sad stares and violent outbursts.”

Tony shrugs uncomfortably. “Probably would’ve opened up in his own time. I’m just the only person available at the right time in his recovery. He has a ton of people he’d probably way rather talk to. He has Cap.”

“Barnes as he is now does not have anyone like you,” Wanda says with a vicious satisfaction, and Tony knows the next words before she says them. “You did not know Bucky first.”

“Neither did any of you!”

Wanda stands. “We are not his friends. We are his allies.”

“I’m not even that,” Tony points out.

“You are not Steve’s friend. Not anymore. That is enough for Barnes.”

“I know you can read minds and all that jazz, but you make absolutely no sense to those of us that can’t. In fact, I’m pretty sure you make no sense in general. And comparing my reluctant frenemy relationship with Barnes to your weird flirtation with Vision is just stupid,” Tony argues.

Wanda raises her eyebrows. “I stand corrected. Mr. Hardon.”

With that she strides from the room, leaving Tony to babble out an incoherent argument in her wake.

He shakes his head. “I have no idea what just happened.”

Tony looks down at the picture of Barnes’ arm he has yet to delete. He can’t help but feel a twinge of guilt at ruining what seemed like a pretty damn good day for Barnes. The guy obviously doesn’t have many of them after all.

He sends a text to Barnes:

_Let me know how the repairs go, Big Boy._


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a little rough and only vaguely fact checked, but I did say I'd try to get the next chapter up before Uni got started and it's my first week back, so.  
> This'll possibly be edited at some point and is mostly a bridge chapter, but for now enjoy!

Tony notices Wanda around a lot more after that. In and of itself it’s not weird, everyone and their brother (ouch, okay he takes that one back) wants to keep an eye on Tony. Either because they don’t trust him to look after himself or because they plain just don’t trust him. Mostly the latter these days. But the thing is, she looks more confused than anything. Like she doesn’t really know what she’s doing or why she’s doing it. Sure, she still glares and refuses to have an actual conversation, but she seems… Well, confused.

After an admittedly short amount of time, Tony shrugs it off and gives up trying to figure her out. Pins it on teenage weirdness. Not his problem unless she decides to reinstate her sworn mission to destroy him and everything he holds dear.

Barnes’ next call comes as they’re all piled in the minivan on the way to their next hideaway and lasts a cool fifteen seconds, five to say he’s fine and the repairs were satisfactory, five to ask after Steve and brush off Tony’s attempts at conversation (and really, Tony knows a whole lot of people who’d give their eye teeth to gain that ability), and five to ascertain that Steve is fine and they’re headed to their next location. He doesn’t even keep the line open to hear _where_ their next location is.

The rest of the drive is spent with Steve and Sharon demanding to know what he did to Barnes that led to the brush off, and Wanda staring silently and smugly at him.

Sam and Clint play I spy throughout. Tony’s pretty sure it started off ironic, but they both seem pretty into it by the time Tony starts paying any attention.

Clint’s winning of course. He can see stuff way out of the average human’s sightline. Sam is pretty good at the perception and intuiting schtick though, so it’s a close thing.

Tony tries to explain, gives them his own version of Nat’s ‘let him come to you, and go away and come back on his own, let him feel in control’ speech, but somehow it doesn’t seem as convincing from his mouth instead of Nat’s perfectly lipsticked one.

“You must have said something,” Steve says for the third time, face worried and judgy in equal measure.

“Probably several somethings,” Sharon adds.

“I didn’t! I didn’t say a single bad thing!” Tony says, then after a second’s consideration he backtracks. “Well, depending on your definition of bad, I mean there were a few things in there that could be called naughty. But nothing that would make him mad, I swear.”

Sharon rolls her eyes and Steve gives him a dubious look.

“Perhaps it was something you did not say,” Wanda suggests, voice like butter wouldn’t melt. Like she doesn’t know exactly what she’s talking about.

Tony shoots her a glare. “You, shut up.”

Wanda’s mouth twitches.

“What is she talking about, Tony?” Steve asks.

Tony sighs. Probably a little louder and more dramatically than strictly necessary in all honesty, but he’s nothing if not a showman. “Barnes and I were bonding over a mutual love of sexual roleplay-“

Steve’s eyes widen while Sharon rolls hers.

“And it got a little… Familiar. I backed off. He could conceivably have taken it as a rejection,” Tony finishes.

Clint tactically withdraws from the latest round of I Spy, which was on ‘T’ with Clint guessing, to join the conversation. “Barnes hit on you?”

“No. Well, sort of. More like friend hit on me. Flirted with me for my friendship using awful, awful double entendres. Which, while usually an effective method, started to feel a little weird when I remembered his metal ‘parts’ trying to rip my own metal parts off,” Tony says. “It’s a distinctly unsexy memory. For me anyway. He might find it hot. Or an observer might. I don’t know. But I’m not majorly into masochism, so... I mean, I’ll try anything once, most things multiple times, but-“

“So he got too… friendly, and you shut him down?” Sharon manfully interrupts while Steve visibly does his best to suppress all memory of the last minute.

“I texted him after?” Tony says in his own defense.

Wanda raises her chin smugly.

“Shut up,” Tony says, pointing at her.

“Text him again,” Sharon orders.

Tony pulls a face. “You do realise the guy gets new phones more often than even I do, right? There’s no way he’s conveniently keeping hold of the last one he used.”

“There’s one way to find out,” Sharon insists.

Tony grumbles but complies, dutifully typing out:

_The mean lady who keeps trying to steal your man told me to text you and make friends. Help a guy out and prove I haven’t fucked up too badly._

Sharon looks over his shoulder as he types and sighs nearly as dramatically as Tony had earlier, probably only impeded by her inferior dramatic abilities, but doesn’t stop him from sending it.

“There. Anything else or should I engage in a couple more pointless activities for your amusement?” Tony whinges. He’ll admit it, he whinges sometimes, and whines, and all kinds of things unbefitting of a man. It’s okay, he’s in good company if Cap’s unmanly pout is anything to go by.

 

Tony wakes with a jolt at 4am to his phone ringing and buzzing in the dim light let in by the trailer’s perspecs windows.

He works to calm his breathing down, reminding himself that he’s safe (ish) in the latest and most run down of Team Cap’s hideouts. That Sharon is probably already awake in the small room she’s sharing with Wanda at the other end of the trailer, that those glinting reflections across from him are the others’ eyes.

That the faint smell of burning metal, gas and plastic is from a burned out car a few meters away from the trailer.

Then he picks up the phone.

“Tell Stevie he can keep his floozy. He never satisfied me in bed, anyway,” Barnes says, voice full of brazen daring. Recklessness more than confidence.

He sounds like he hasn’t slept, that mix of frantic nerves and woozy chattiness that Tony recognizes as an almost integral part of himself these days.

Tony grins and meets Sharon’s eyes where she’s coming around the flimsy plastic door. “Barnes called you a floozy.”

Sharon snorts in disbelief.

Tony turns to level Cap with a smirk. “And he says you-“

“Everyone’s there?” Barnes interrupts, alarm registering in his voice.

Tony pauses. “Well, yeah. If you’d stuck around long enough to find out, you’d know we’re all crammed into a trailer in the middle of nowhere. Why? Did you not want me to raise the issue of Steve’s sexual inadequacy in front of everyone?”

Steve makes a slightly strangled noise and turns bright red. Or at least, Tony thinks he does. It’s hard to tell without more light.

“No, I… Um…” Barnes trails off.

“So I just realised you won’t have even heard of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Which you should because I’m pretty sure my AI’s deliberately reference it when they want to unnerve people and you’re missing out on the experience,” Tony rambles, letting himself slide into a steady rhythm of chatter that Barnes can choose whether or not to respond to. “I’m pretty sure they consider HAL an honorary uncle, fictional character or no. Do you know the song ‘Daisy Bell’ or ‘Bicycle Built for Two’ or whatever the hell it’s called? Because you will never hear it the same way again after that movie, I promise you.”

As Tony talks the others all drift back off to their cramped corners to attempt sleep, minus Wanda who never bothered getting up, and Cap who’s staring hungrily at Tony and the phone. Tony almost feels sorry for the guy. Must be tough to see the guy you love (and jokes aside, Tony is 100% sure that Steve loves Barnes in a more than friends kind of way) chat with the guy you hate when he refuses to have any contact with you.

“I’m pretty sure I made Steve watch it one time, right Steve?” Tony says.

Steve looks startled, then nods and clears his throat. “Good movie. A little depressing though.”

Tony scoffs, “This coming from the guy who loves ‘A Brief Encounter’.”

“We watched it in London when it first came out,” Barnes says quietly.

Steve’s face melts. Not literally, that would be gross and Tony would probably throw up, more a metaphorical, mushy ‘my soulmate remembers our date to my favourite movie’ kind of melting. Although, come to think of it, maybe it’s more that it’s his favourite movie _because_ he saw it with Barnes not long before they took the ice bucket challenge to extremes. And Tony still might throw up.

“Did he cry?” Tony asks Barnes. “Because I swear I heard sniffles when he made us watch it, and it definitely wasn’t Clint.”

“He said the dust in the movie theatre was making his allergies act up,” Barnes answers.

Tony looks accusingly at Steve. “You don’t have any allergies since Rebirth.”

Steve shrugs, smiling a little. “It’s a sad movie.”

“It’s sappy,” Barnes retorts.

“I should have added Titanic to his movie list,” Tony says.

“It was already on there,” Steve admits. “I never watched it. There’s sad and then there’s hundreds of people drowning in the middle of the freezing cold ocean.”

Tony winces. “Right. I can see why you might want to avoid that.”

“Titanic?” Barnes asks. “They made a movie about that? Isn’t that a little…”

“Morbid? Sure. But it had Kate Winslet getting naked for Leonardo DiCaprio in it so no one cared,” Tony says.

“I have no idea who those people are.”

Steve _grins_. An actual, genuine grin. Full of pearly whites and twinkling eyes.

Tony forgets to speak for a few seconds.

“Actors,” Steve answers instead. “Very pretty actors.”

“I figured,” Barnes says, but he sounds a little overwhelmed.

It’s then that Tony finally catches on. They may as well be on speakerphone with the super hearing. Barnes and Steve are having an actual conversation. With Tony in the middle, but still. Progress. A flash of panic comes with the realisation that much more progress and Steve won’t need him anymore. He can have check ins with Barnes himself.

“There are other sad movies Steve might like though, like The Notebook or maybe Brokeback Mountain,” Tony says, before the others can read anything into his silence.

Barnes huffs a near laugh. “Maybe we can watch them sometime, see if he cries.”

“I do like happy movies, you know,” Steve protests. “The Wizard of Oz was good.”

Tony nearly breaks a rib he laughs so hard. “Oh my god, I should have known you’d be a friend of Dorothy.”

Steve looks confused.

“Nevermind,” Tony replies to the unspoken question. “Reference to a slightly offensive stereotype. You don’t want to know.”

Steve looks like he wants to know more than he did before Tony half-explained, but shakes his head slightly and refocuses on the phone pressed to Tony’s ear. “Bucky likes it too. Though he said there’s something not right about Glinda.”

Tony nods. “It’s a fair judgment. She did congratulate a little girl on committing her first murder and encourage her to take the corpse’s shoes as a trophy.”

“I don’t…” Barnes takes a loud breath. “I don’t remember it.”

Steve’s face crumples.

“We’ll watch it again sometime. You can experience it with my spectacular commentary,” Tony says lightly. “Though you may regret replacing that missing memory when you hear ‘Yellow Brick Road’ again.”

“It’s catchy,” Steve says, though he doesn’t look too convinced.

“It’s annoying,” Tony corrects.

“I guess I’ll find out when we-“ Barnes cuts off and when he speaks again his voice is less friendly, more ‘I’m about to cut a bitch’. “I have to go.”

“Barnes?” Tony says at the same time as Steve says, “Bucky?”

“She’s here.” With that Barnes hangs up.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *tiptoes in after forever and drops off two chapters*  
> Sorry guys! Who knew second year was so hectic? Good news is I'll be unemployed from late December (no, it really is good news. I'm going on a study exchange) so I should have more time to write.  
> Also, if you haven't yet discovered 4thewords then look it up right now. The fact these chapters got done is very much attributable to that site.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!

Bucky fights the urge to run and hide. It's too late for that. He's not getting out of here without a fight or a distraction, and distracting a child of the Red Room is night impossible.

His arm feels weak at his side. It's purely mental, until he tries to hit or grip, it feels no physically different than usual, but the knowledge of his disability is like an itch in his bones.

He doesn't even know where she is. The only reason he knows she's there is the scream he heard, just distantly, perfectly placed to alert him to her approach but tempt him into running into the open. She's trying to flush him out.

He chose his base well, it's fortified and monitored and enough to withstand any normal attacker. It won't withstand her. But it will slow her down.

Bucky sets the few traps he's managed to engineer, not usually his forte, but necessary with his main asset effectively disabled. He doesn't know which of the two exits she'll enter through and which she'll block, but either way he has to wait for her to enter in the first place before he even has a shot at getting through either of them without a bullet in his skull.

The unpainted plaster walls are decorated with fragments of light coming in around his make-shift blinds. One window, first exit. To come in through there, she'll have to climb over the grease paint, glass shards and up a vertical wall. He has no doubt she can, but it'll be slow going, especially with the security cage on the window frame.

The second exit is through the door and down a narrow corridor with a second door at the end. She'll have to avoid tripping the grenade attached to the far door and she'll have no cover and very little visual information when he fires through the catflap he installed in the door at this end. He'll hear the far door open no matter how silent she is.

All there is to do is wait.

Luckily he has plenty of practice.

He can't afford to listen to the screams. If she's got the poor bastard then they're done for no matter how quickly he could get to them. All he can hope for is that she's impatient and goal oriented rather than sadistic. It's disturbingly easy to ignore the sound.

At last the final scream ends in a bloody gurgle. She's done waiting it seems.

She chooses the door.

The grenade she sets off deliberately, providing a cloud of exploded plaster even super soldier eyes struggle with as she practically dances her way down the corridor around his close cropping bullets. He grazes her shoulder and considers it good luck.

Bucky is across the room before she kicks open the door, blocking her bullets with his metal arm by instinct and ducking around his carefully constructed obstacle course of broken furniture.

The fight is quick, brutal, and far too playful. Bucky realises she's drawing it out. He's on the defensive, disabled, disoriented. He's at a disadvantage and he knows it. The fight should have been over in seconds, and it's already reaching minutes in length. 

"Finish it!" He finally yells in frustration as she skirts around his shots instead of under them and forward. He left an opening, his arm is too slow like this.

Yelena just grins. 

She throws a small blade at his shoulder, the one weighed down by now unwieldy metal, and it lodges just below his collarbone. The adrenaline is high enough to dull the pain for now, but it slows him still further.

He understands. She's already won. He has no way out, in no state to get through his own traps, not fast enough, not sharp enough to have a chance at beating her.

This is it. 

No matter how slowly, she's killing him. He's almost surprised by the spike of terror he feels at the thought. 

He doesn't want to die.

At last her knife comes down for a final blow, just as his phone makes a strange screeching noise.

He catches her wrist. With his left hand. 

A quick twist and her arm is broken, shoulder dislocated. 

 Except, he didn't twist and her arm still broke.

 

"Come on!" 

"Oh, I'm sorry, do you want to take over?" Tony snaps, trying to work on the outdated piece of crap tablet from the safehouse, trying to triangulate Barnes. He set FRIDAY to the task of overriding the inhibitor, he's still waiting for her to verify. If Barnes thought to break his phone they're screwed.

Steve says nothing. They left the others in the safehouse with the minivan. Turns out Steve knows how to hotwire motorbikes and the folks up the road seem to have one spare. 

Tony curses as he mistypes again, too used to his own tech that's designed specifically for ease and precision and generally has a bigger keyboard.

"What's taking so long?" Steve demands after another twenty seconds.

"I don't know, hacking into a secure server on a kid's tablet that went out of production three years ago, then hacking through the multiple security measures your ex-assassin friend has set up specifically to stop me from doing this exact thing, should be like ordering pizza," Tony mutters. He's almost got it. It'd be so much easier if he could access his own servers for this, but S.H.E.I.L.D doubtless have people monitoring them, and that wouldn't help Barnes in the long run.

"It doesn't usually take you this long to do anything," Steve says. Tony can't decide whether his tone is sulky or suspicious.

Tony takes his eyes from the screen as the crappy wifi loads the next page. "I know you're behind the times and all, but contrary to popular belief, and a fuckton of movies and TV shows, hacking takes time. The reason I can usually do it quickly..." He trails off a second to deal with the next step. 

"Is what?"

Tony blinks. "What is what?"

"The reason."

"Oh, right," Tony glances back down. "The reason I'm usually such a whiz is because I'm usually working with my own tech, my own hardware and software. The time consuming parts are pretty much already done. If FRIDAY wasn't busy multitasking to her little binary heart's content, and JOCASTA was an option it'd be done a lot faster."

"What's FRIDAY doing?" Steve asks.

 

 

The arm is practically working on its own, blocking and punching and grabbing of its own accord. Except it's not working on its own. It's reacting to his own movements, in near perfect synchronicity, but with its own agency. 

Yelena looks as surprised as he feels.

With her own arm injured and her advantage seemingly destroyed, Yelena flees. Bucky doesn't kid himself that she'll stay gone for long or that she's gone far. She's just taking a break to regroup.

Bucky gets out and gets as far as he can as fast as he can. He doesn't stop to consider the possible reasons for his arm's sudden life of its own. He doesn't have the luxury. If it's H.Y.D.R.A... He'll deal with it later.

 

 

The suit lands just as Steve moves to start the bike. He freezes and glares at Tony. "You couldn't have said you were planning this before I hotwired the bike?"

Tony shrugs. "You seemed like you needed something to do."

"And you don't think someone will have noticed the bright red and gold suit fly into the area?" Steve says.

"Nope. Undetectible by radar with reflective stealth panels. Second latest model," Tony explains.

"Second latest?"

"Latest latest is stuck in the workshop at S,I under lockdown," Tony says. "Pepper's fault, she said I have to test all new suits in the building so she knows if I blow myself up in the testing."

Steve shakes his head but waits for Tony to settle into the suit.

"Coming?" Tony asks.

Steve doesn't stop to answer, already wrapping his arms around Tony's neck.

"Can you read my mind?" Tony asks in a dreamy voice.

It's almost adorable how annoyance over the comparison fights with pride over getting the reference as Steve tries to frown at him, "Not the time to be making movie references, Tony. Get going."

When Tony slows a little to update the directions for the suit, he almost misses Steve's added: "If that suit has the ability to see my underwear I'll actually be impressed."

Tony grins and speeds back up.

 

 

The black widow catches up not two miles from where they started, shoulder reset and the break in her arm braced. And with a lot of ranged weaponry.

He hasn't had the chance to do more than press a wad of tissue grabbed from a public bathroom against the wound in his shoulder and it's still bleeding sluggishly despite the bastardised serum. His bruises and grazes are further along to healing but he's still in rough shape for the amount of acrobatics he has to pull to avoid her fire. 

They're in a public place, a town center albeit a small one, but given that he's publicly wanted for terrorism that isn't much of a deterrent for her when he's already aware of her presence. 

He takes a dart to the leg before she stops firing and it takes a few precious seconds to find the cause of the lull, despite the frenzy of pointing around him. When he does spot them, however, he can't take his eyes off them. 

The sharp lines of the suit are barely visible except for when the bullets spark off the metal surface.  Steve's shield is a vivid blur, while the man himself isn't much slower. They work together effortlessly, dividing her attention and keeping up a pace of attack that no one human could withstand for long.

Seeing her defeat looming, Yelena deliberately ignores them both, focusing a sudden and violent flurry of shots towards Bucky. Both Steve and Tony leap to his defence and she's gone before they can return fire, lost in the people and the buildings.

In all the times that he has lost Bucky, Steve has never smiled at finding him. 

He smiles later, full of relief and affection, but now as so many times before, his first reaction is worry and disbelief, as if he expects Bucky to disappear as soon as he touches him. 

Tony, however. Tony  _beams_. 

The second the faceplate comes up, Tony's face is a picture of victory and relief, giddy and joyous and proud. He lands in front of Bucky and walks in continuing motion as if stepping out of the sky, all grace and self-assurance. 

"Hey, buddy," He says. "Sorry to drop in on you, but we figured given a choice between painful death and our spectacular company you might forgive us for violating your privacy and hacking your phone."

Bucky stares. 

"Are you alright?" Steve asks softly, warily. 

"Yes," Bucky says. 

Tony is still smiling at him, though now a little less sure. It's so strange. He's heard Tony's voice, his humour and kindness over the phone, but his little experience of Tony in person makes his openness bizarre. This man held him captive not so long ago. This man looked at him with fear and anger and a little bit of pity last time he'd looked at him at all. The difference is startling and mesmerising.

"You sure about that?" Tony asks, cheery tone belying the spike of concern in his eyes. "Because you look a little like you got mauled by a bear. A very angry, Russian bear."

Steve's eyes are fixed on Bucky's injured shoulder.

Bucky shrugs and suppresses his wince. The bleeding, which had stopped soon after he stopped moving, starts up again.

"Okay, so first priority is getting the hell out of here, but we really need to get someone whose idea of first aid isn't a bottle of whisky or sheer denial to look at that shoulder. Then I want to run some diagnostics on your arm. FRIDAY should have reported any issues, but I want to make sure her override didn't cause any software anomalies."

"That was FRIDAY?" Bucky asks. The relief feels dull and distant and it's only now that he registers that he's in shock.

"Uhuh. Don't tell JOCASTA though, she'll get jealous if she hears FRIDAY's claimed you," Tony says, casually stepping out of the suit and probing the wound, ending by pulling a sealed dressing from some hidden space in the suit, tearing open the packaging and pressing it to Bucky's shoulder. He manages to do it so smoothly that Bucky doesn't startle or flinch, doesn't react as he usually does when he's approached when wounded.

"Claimed him?" Steve asks. The question is forced, the humour and amusement in it brittle and flat.

Tony hums. "Jo took a shine to your boy when he showed appropriate fear and respect for her A.I heritage, but FRIDAY tends to think any tech she's given access to is hers." He looks Bucky in the eye. "I took away access, she can't take over again unless given permission, which happens automatically if you're in a fight but can be turned off by you rolling your shoulder three times either way. However, the inhibitor will still be effective whenever you're in full control. You still can't hurt people with it, but you're not so defenceless anymore."

Bucky goes back to staring. The work around is genius and his relief overwhelms any feelings of uncertainty or discomfort. He can fight and he can be safe, without risking the safety of those around him. And until FRIDAY's access is blocked, he'll never face another fight alone again. Hell, if he can figure out how to give her his consent without a fight he can have her with him whenever he wants. 

Tony and Steve both seem to be waiting for him to react, and both seem to be expecting anger or panic or something else they have to brace themselves for.

But none of those feelings are there. It's FRIDAY, she's not even human, and she was created by Tony. It's a surprise to find how much that last part counts for. He's used to not being in control of himself, and he can't say that's the part he really minded (as much as the rest at any rate), it was who was in control and how they were using that control that was the truly awful part. 

"Thanks," Bucky croaks out at last, just as Steve starts to look well and truly worried.

Tony smiles and pats his uninjured shoulder.

"Buck," Steve says quietly.

Bucky meets his eye. "I can't come back with you. You've seen it yourself, she can find me, she nearly killed me. She could do the same to you. As long as we're apart she's focused on that, not you."

Steve looks crushed but not surprised. He nods. "How long?"

"A few minutes. She'll be back soon."

Tony fidgets. "You do realise she's just seen us find and get to you in under an hour, right?"

Bucky frowns.

"I mean, if she didn't think she could use us to find you before, she probably does now. You vanish without us, we're probably the first place she'll come looking," Tony says. "We might be safer sticking together."

Steve's expression firms, becomes determined. "Tony's right."

"And look, I know you've got other reasons for staying away," Tony continues with a significant glance at Steve. "But I'd have thought keeping this lug out of trouble would be more important. Not to mention, no more patch jobs on your arm. I can keep it maintained almost as well as I could in a lab if I can get FRIDAY in there for diagnostics."

Bucky wavers. Tony has a point. Several of them in fact.

"So how about this," Tony says, "We don't go back. Team Cap can stay where they are, we won't have to worry about them and we'll be harder to track. Steve and I come with you. When we need to, we can split up and meet again later which, again, harder to track as she won't know how many of us to look out for at any given time. You have access to my brain and his brawn, we have access to your assassin insider knowledge. Everyone's a winner."

"Bucky, please," Steve says.

No matter what they do, they don't have time to argue about it right now. Bucky resists the urge to just run; they'd only follow. "We'll decide later. For now we need to get out of here."


	15. Chapter 15

They agreed, somewhat reluctantly, to split up and meet at the site of a previous battle. An old H.Y.D.R.A base about three miles away, somewhere they knew they could defend if necessary having fought there before. Bucky wasn't too happy about it, the battle having been what Tony would call 'Team Iron Man vs Team Cap', but it was true that made it more easily defensible. So he set off on his separate route, stalking down alleyways and through a crowded high street until he reached a building opposite the planned meeting place.

The empty apartment is new, rebuilt from before the battle of New York and still smelling of paint. The ones below are occupied having taken less structural damage, and so likely less time to repair. Two large, white framed windows overlook the courtyard of the unassuming office building Tony and Steve should be entering at any moment.

The decision he has to make, whether to meet them there or just check that they reach it safely and leave, itches at him. Both options have their merits and their pitfalls, and either one could be the choice that put Steve and Tony in danger. Hell, just getting this close could have been the wrong call.

It's times like this he almost misses the certainty of the Winter Soldier.

 

Steve watches Tony, now suitless having sent it off after the fight, and tries to see what Bucky sees.

The man looks tired but his eyes never stop moving. He has his stolen tablet in his hands and he looks at it every few seconds, checking for any updates on the location of the black widow. "She could follow us or him and we wouldn't even know it," Tony had said as soon as they'd lost sight of Bucky. "Bucky knows that."

It'd been Tony's way of preparing Steve, he's sure, his way of breaking it to Steve that Bucky might not show. Probably won't show. 

Of course Steve already knew that, he knows Bucky better than anyone, he knows Bucky will have every outcome mapped out in his head. He also knows that when it comes down to it, Bucky is not a strategist. Not because he couldn't be, not because he isn't smart enough or forward thinking enough. But because he's ruled by his heart, not his head. Bucky is a risk taker. Steve only hopes that Bucky decides this risk is worth taking.

So Steve had nodded and declined to comment, pulling his hood up as they made their way onto the bus, watching carefully as people did double takes of Tony without displaying any of the excited recognition he was used to seeing when any one of the Avengers was spotted in public. From the second Tony had walked away from the suit and into the crowd, not one phone or camera has been pointed at him. 

He looks less perfect like this, less prepared and ruthless and inscrutable, more human. Maybe more how Bucky sees him. Or maybe Steve's completely wrong.

"How do people not recognise you?" Steve asks at last, unable to figure it out. Tony still looks like Tony, still sounds like Tony, still walks and moves the same. 

Tony laughs. "And here you had me thinking you'd actually watched Superman." He grins at Steve and for a second it's like the war never happened. "Truth is, there's no me to recognise. 'Tony Stark' is a brand. He's an amalgamation of context and presentation, not a person. Much as I love the van dyke myself, it's more than a fabulous grooming choice. People see the facial hair, the suits, whether clothing or armour, the pretty people around me, and that's the Tony Stark they know. Some nobody walking down the street without any of those things, pretty people excluded I guess," here Tony winks and Steve rolls his eyes, "and they don't think to connect the dots. There are no dots for them to connect. They might have a brief moment of 'I could have sworn I've seen that handsome devil before', but they don't think any more of it."

"That's..." Steve trails off, unable to find the words. "I guess that makes some sort of sense. But it's still..."

"Stupid? Yep. But it serves a purpose so who the hell cares?" Tony says. "Besides, I don't see you looking all surprised that nobody's crawling into your lap and singing the national anthem any time you wear baggy clothes and a baseball cap." 

Steve shakes his head. "Sometimes I really have no idea how your brain works. Other times I'm glad I don't know."

"Come on, you're not telling me you genuinely think your current getup is the height of subterfuge and disguise? I mean, you don't even keep the sunglasses on half the time. Which, good, because it is nowhere near sunny enough to justify those. But still, that is the face that launched a thousand ships-"

"I'm pretty sure that was Helen of Troy," Steve says, because he knows that even if he ignores it, Tony hates it when he's pedantic.

"-and you've made no attempt to alter it. No mountain man beard, no fringe, no Clark Kent glasses, nothing," Tony continues without pause. "It's a miracle that such a large, well muscled man doesn't at least get hit on, let alone recognised. I mean come on, even if you weren't the spitting image of the heroic captain, you're a good looking guy, you should be using those startling defined muscles to fight off the hoards of horny singles."

"Would it make you feel better if I got a badly fitting business suit and a pair of 'Clark Kent glasses'?" Steve asks, amused despite himself.

Tony looks him over speculatively. "Some office wear and a pair of Ray-Bans wouldn't be a bad thing. I think you're too pretty to pull off the Clark Kent thing properly though."

"If I didn't know any better..." Steve stops, reminds himself Tony isn't his friend. He's nowhere near familiar enough to make that kind of comment without provoking a justified attack. Things may have changed, but most men still seemed not to take kindly to those kinds of jokes or accusations. Even if Tony does it to other people all the time.

"What?" Tony asks. 

Steve just shakes his head.

"No, come on. Tell me. I promise, whatever you want to say, I've heard worse," Tony says.

Steve shifts. "I'd think you wanted to climb into my lap singing the national anthem yourself."

Tony laughs. "Believe me, there was a time. But don't worry, I know you're a married man."

"I can never tell whether you're joking or being serious," Steve says.

Tony shrugs. "A little of both usually. But to answer the question I think you're asking, yes, under different, less violent and hate filled circumstances I would probably climb you like a tree. Or try to at least. As for the married thing, you kinda are. I mean, poor Sharon's been tossed to the side almost since you found Bucky, and I've heard of no other lucky lady or gent."

"Bucky's not... He's never..." Steve rubs his face.

"Really?" Tony sounds neither shocked nor disparaging. Just the right level of vague interest. "So you do?"

"What?" Steve sputters.

"You," Tony says. "You like guys. You said Bucky never, but you didn't say you never."

Steve presses his lips together. He knew he shouldn't have said anything. Should never have raised the subject.

The bus stops and Steve tries not to make it obvious how much he wants out. Tony barely keeps up with him as he marches onward at a pace that would quickly wear out any normal person.

"Not that I couldn't use the exercise any normal day, when I haven't already fought a black widow and walked halfway across the city, but you do know I have a heart condition, right?" Tony manages, getting the full babbling sentence out despite his complaint.

Steve darts an irritated glare at him. "Had. You had a heart condition. You said the extremis got rid of it."

Tony grumbles but doesn't attempt to slow their pace.

 

They reach the meeting point only a couple of minutes later. Steve insists on doing a perimeter check twice before he'll go in, though Tony figures the only person likely to be there is the black widow and even Steve wouldn't have a shot of spotting her.

There's no sign of Bucky, not that Tony really expected there to be.

Once Steve finally decides it's okay to enter the actual building, Tony goes to find a room with good views and a wifi signal while Steve searches the hundred or so rooms and all the connecting corridors. 

He's comfortably immersed in some programming on his tablet when Steve finds him, just a little shortcut to all those handy servers and websites he uses to track people down. He's fast running out of space, but he can delete some of the base programming, replace it with something more streamlined and fit to purpose. Still, some new tech would be a very good thing, especially now his phone is completely out of reach sat in Sharon's back pocket.

"He's not here," Tony surmises.

Steve goes to the window and peers around, too used to being on the run to stand fully in front of it. "No. He's here somewhere, he just won't come it. We need to get somewhere visible. He'll show up to give me a hard time over not being careful if nothing else."

"Yeah, that's great. Except from the part where he'd be right. Visible is bad, we should not be visible. Invisible is good, we should be as invisible as possible," Tony says.

Steve smiles. Grins, really. An expression of pure mischief that makes him look all of his 20 odd conscious years. "You think you can get the lights up and running again?"


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plotless, non-proof read fluff and shameless self indulgence. Cut me a break, I have deadlines.

"I'm not sure whether to hate or be best friends with fun, naughty Steve," Tony grumbles as he gives a final, vicious twist to the wires in his hand. "Okay, you can go turn on the breakers again."

Steve darts off with far too much glee for a muscle-bound role model.

A few moments later and Tony gives a low whistle. "Yep. That should definitely do it."

 

 

Bucky is still agonising over his choices when the lights in the meet up building flicker on. 

He frowns. He can't think of a plausible reason for Steve and Tony to turn the lights on. It'll attract attention. The battle there was very public and not very long ago, people know very well that the building is abandoned. So he looks out of the window.

"Fuck! That stupid little punk!" Bucky snaps. "Should've known one of them would pull something like this. Idiots."

Below him and on the other side of the apartment's long window, lights flicker on and off in a recurring pattern. On the roof a spotlight, probably not originating on the roof, shines brightly. The center of the spotlight is blacked out with a perfectly drawn sketch of Steve's shield, projecting the silhouette large and bold onto the wall of a neighbouring building. 

Bucky doesn't wait more than a second before storming from the building with all the stealth he can muster over his rage and exasperation.

He makes it to the building quickly if not with ease. The doors are barricaded badly but well enough to alert  anyone in the building to his presence. Smart but not enough to placate him.

Bucky doesn't stop to see if Steve or Tony will greet him, just darts for the nearest roof access. 

He's coming back down the stairs after smashing the spotlights bulb with extreme prejudice and a brick, trying to figure out where he needs to go to turn the power back off when he's ambushed.

"You weren't going to come," Steve accuses.

Tony holds his hands up in self-proclaimed innocence. "It was his idea."

Steve folds his arms. 

"You stupid, reckless-"

"Yeah, yeah. Believe me, we know. But chances are Belova followed either us or you anyway, and her bosses will want to give her a good few hours at least before they send flashy, attention drawing backup. At least this way we cut out the time spent while you figure out what the hell you want to do," Tony interrupts. "And Steve can stop pining. Believe me, seeing a grown man, a soldier, a superhero and national icon no less, pine is awkward and unpleasant for anyone involved."

"I'm trying to keep you both safe! You know that! Putting yourselves in danger to manipulate me is idiotic and fucking awful any way you look at it," Bucky says. 

Steve doesn't take his eyes off Bucky through his rant or Tony's babble. "You don't get to make these decisions in the name of protecting me. Us. If you want to run away, you're going to have to come up with a better reason."

Tony winces. "Cap..."

"No, Tony. You know damn well if was the other way around he'd say the same thing. He does, too." Steve unfolds his arms and takes half a step towards Bucky. "You want us safe. I get it. But I want you safe too, and I'm not going to let you put yourself in danger when we're better off together. Not without trying to stop you."

"You're not going to let me go again without following me," Bucky says flatly.

Steve folds his arms.

"Okay, hold on. Nobody's stalking anyone, but Steve has a point. You're being kind of a hypocrite," Tony says. "Not to mention a little stupid. I mean come on, you can't still think this is the way to keep us safe?"

Bucky's mouth opens and closes a few times before settling into a frown. He can't think of anything to say that he hasn't already said, and so far Steve and Tony have remained unconvinced. 

"I mean, it's your choice I guess," Tony continues, "But seriously, please don't run off again. Steve gets mean when he's worried."

Steve frowns a little, looking torn between offended and grateful for the backup. "I'm not the only one that worries."

Tony shrugs.

"Fine. I'll stay for now. But if I decide at any point that it's better for me to leave, I will. No arguments. You won't know I'm leaving until I'm gone," Bucky says, firmly ignoring his own mounting panic at the mere thought.

Steve beams and it's like someone turned him back into the carefree little punk he'd been at eighteen.

 

"Thank you," Steve says.

"Hmm?" Tony asks, blinking as his eyes adjust to the darkness after staring at the light of his tablet.

Steve represses a smile as Tony nearly goes cross eyed. "For backing me up with Bucky. I know you probably aren't overjoyed about spending time with him. It meant a lot."

Tony shrugs. "Wasn't for you. He's..." He looks towards the door Bucky left out of half an hour ago to do a perimeter check. "He's not so bad I guess. Not what I was expecting. I mean, what I was expecting was a crazy assassin with memory and impulse control issues who tries to kill me every few hours, and what I got is a sad pile of guilt and leather who likes and fears Jo and Fri in almost equal measure. So, an improvement. But mostly I'm doing it for Jo. I'm already on rocky terms with her after I left her and I don't want to compound it by letting her new bestie die alone."

"I..." Steve makes his way through Tony's speech and shakes his head. "Thanks anyway."

"Besides," Tony continues. "I figure you'll be better company this way. Experience may have shown otherwise, but those were very different circumstances; less evil Germans, more evil Russians, less violent outbursts. Well, hopefully less violent outbursts. On all sides. I will admit, I wasn't Mr. Even Temper back then, though I think I showed a little more restraint than a certain super soldier couple."

Out of the corner of his eye, Steve sees Bucky enter the room again, nearly silent and moving smoothly enough that Tony hasn't seen him yet. He's watching them with an expression bordering on affectionate and Steve feels his heart jump. Since they got him back, Bucky's been a lot of things, has been getting closer and closer to the Bucky Steve used to know, but these moments are still rare. Moments where something positive, something good, overcomes the near permanent sadness, fear and frustration that shadows Bucky.

Eager to keep the moment as long as possible, Steve resists the sharp retort he'd usually shoot out at Tony's arrogance. Instead he smiles. "If you say so, though I had quite a few bruises that would argue otherwise. You pack quite a punch for a short fella."

"Hey! I am not short! I'm just perpetually surrounded by freakishly tall people," Tony pouts. 

It's easier than he'd have thought to chuckle. "Whatever you say, half-pint."

"Shut up mega-sized," Tony snaps without heat. "You'd think you'd be more empathetic. Word is you used to be a little fella yourself. There's photographic evidence and everything. But, now, oh ho, how the tables have turned. Now you're the big guy picking on the little guy. Tiny Steve would be ashamed."

Steve ignores Bucky's silently shaking shoulders and wicked grin in favour of crossing his arms in mock offence. "Tiny Steve?"

"I think I would've liked Tiny Steve better than Ginormous Steve," Tony muses. 

Steve sputters. "No one liked Tiny Steve!"

"I liked Tiny Steve," Bucky says.

Steve pulls a face. "Yes, because I was the only friend you had whose girl you didn't steal. Mostly because I never had one."

Tony looks uncertain and starts to withdraw. For some reason this makes Steve panic, the moment is starting to slip away.

"You probably would have," Steve says.

Tony looks confused. "Would have what?"

"Would have liked me before..." Steve shakes his head. "I was a lot less..."

"Uptight? Self-righteous? Judgemental?" Tony says. But somehow it lacks the sting he'd usually infuse the words with. It's more teasing than cruel. It actually makes Steve feel like he's among friends.

"No, I was always self-righteous and judgemental, and a lot less shy about showing it with my fists. A lot less likely to cause damage though," Steve says with a self-depreciating smirk.

Bucky snorts. "He was a nightmare. Always picking fights, even though he knew he couldn't win. Had rage issues like nobody's business."

Steve frowns playfully. "Like you were such an angel. Half the fights I got into were with guys whose girl you'd poached. You never seemed to mind the backup then."

They're losing Tony again as they devolve into reminiscence and Steve looks to Bucky helplessly, only to find the familiar look of frustrated confusion clouding his face as he tries to remember something he can't quite get a grip on. So that's that. The moment collapses in on itself as quickly as it arose. Steve swallows back grief and a mix of so many other desperate emotions that he thinks for a moment he might choke. He thinks bitterly that he's the only one here who has to claw at either of the others for a friendly conversation, before he clenches his fists and forces himself to let it go. 

"Okay," Steve forces himself to speak evenly. "We could all use some rest. I'm on first watch." Both men look ready to disagree and Steve summons the tone he's secretly called his Captain Voice since he discovered the effect it had. "No argument. We're not going to survive this if we're all sleep deprived."

Tony's grumbles are audible if not clear. Bucky's are held in his slightly pouted frown. The same expression he used to pull when his Ma scolded him for backtalking her.

They both settle down eventually and Steve feels a moment's disorientation at the two tousled brunet heads barely two feet from each other. It feels wrong them being in the same room and relaxed, but at the same time it feels comfortable and safe. Strangely, Steve feels safer with the two of them in a half-demolished office than he ever did in a room full of allies.

Tony eventually transitions into sleep, first splayed loose and open, but gradually curling in on himself and burying his face in his arm.

"What do you like so much about him?" Steve asks softly. He doesn't mean it as harshly as the words imply, and he trusts Bucky to know that.

Bucky rolls his head back to look at Steve, before glancing back at Tony. "He's honest. Even if he's not on my side, I know exactly where he stands. I knew he'd go to you when I asked, even though he didn't want to."

"Why did he?" Steve asks, genuinely curious.

"Because he knows he can't win alone," Bucky says. "And he knows you can't either."

Steve nods and stares at the opposite wall. Eventually Bucky closes his eyes again. Steve can't tell if or when he goes to sleep.

 

After a night of broken sleep, they move on. All together this time, they head off on foot for a subway. This time the safe location is one of Nat's, one from the list she gave Tony. It's a small apartment in a very large, very crowded building. Easy to get lost in.

They split up briefly, each heading off to gather different supplies. Steve gets the food and toiletries, Bucky the medical supplies and Tony gets a new cell phone, a laptop and equipment to repair Bucky's arm. They deliberately stagger their arrivals out, Bucky first to scout the location before the others join him.

It's a nice place. Small, cramped and with cheap and mostly uncomfortable furniture, and it clearly hadn't been dusted in a while. But there's a double bed and a deep couch, a full kitchenette and decent water pressure in the shower. 

It's incredibly strange sitting there with two men who tried pretty damn hard to kill him in the not too distant past, watching DVDs from Nat's incredibly diverse stash of bootlegs and sipping hot cocoa. Not that Tony's complaining, this is far more pleasant than most of their previous encounters. All of their previous encounters in fact.

There's nothing for them to do, not really, and that doesn't sit well with Tony. He knows, in theory, that there's not much he can do while in hiding, but he's always been the 'take action' type. He can't even remember the last time he didn't have at least three urgent things he should be doing. More like twenty since joining the Avengers. Being bored, really, thoroughly bored, is new to him.

Steve and Bucky seem to have no such problem. They've been cuddled up under a blanket on the couch for hours, only moving for food and bathroom breaks. After seeing how antsy Steve was when living in the tower, or staying at Clint's farm, Tony would have thought Steve would be crawling out of his skin by now. Instead he's shoving Bucky off the couch to get him more cocoa so he doesn't have to get up himself.

Tony shakes his head and tries to focus on the movie. He can't for the life of him remember when Life of Brian finished and Beetlejuice started playing, but he's kinda bummed he missed Always Look on the Bright Side of Life to depressed musings.

He's waiting for his recent upgrades to sync from the crappy old tablet he's been using to the new Stark Pad he picked up on his tech run, so he can't do any playing with tech or hacking for awhile and it's killing him a little inside. There's a backlog of ideas building up in his skull for programs, hardware, and hacking pranks he could play on Nat and Coulson. By the time he can implement any of them, he'll have forgotten at least half.

Still, maybe it isn't too terrible. There's something corny and healing about watching Steve and Bucky wrestle playfully until Bucky lands on the floor with a thump far louder than is dignified for the world's most feared assassin. Something warm in the way Steve shares a triumphant grin with Tony as Bucky gathers all three mugs and grumbles his way to the kitchenette. 

When Steve does a final perimeter check before his shift sleeping, Tony pulls out the toolkit and sets to work on Bucky's arm. Some Spanish movie he's never seen is playing in the background while Tony pulls the plating back, and Bucky barely betrays any tension. It's a completely different scenario to the emergency repairs Tony did back at the tower. It's almost comfortable.

"Thanks," Bucky says when the repairs are done and he's rotating the arm testingly. He's smiling, relaxed and soft, and Tony can't look away.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm in Canada! Have been for a month now, but it feels like wayyyy less. So, I have been working on this and there's more to come, but I've been adapting most of the time I've been here. There are assignments CONSTANTLY. But I'm finding more and more time to write as I figure out my schedule, so don't give up on me just yet.

The phone rings.

They've been in Nat's apartment for nearly three days and they've started to feel settled. Tony has a coffee table in the corner cluttered with tools, spares and cheap mobile phone innards. Bucky is forever finding Steve's pencils in the sofa, usually by sitting on the pointy end, and there are finished and half finished sketches on random bits of paper all over the place. Bucky has a small stack of science fiction paperbacks next to the TV and usually one in hand. It's comfortable. Growing familiar already.

But the phone rings.

At first they all stare, none of them willing to sacrifice their short lived peace by acknowledging the intrusion with more than a look. It stops ringing, then rings again.

Tony is the one to bite the bullet. He picks up the phone without speaking, just in case it's someone who could recognise his voice. A small part of him hopes it's a telesales call.

"Hello?" Bruce's voice comes through clear.

"Bruce?" Tony asks aloud, partly for Steve and Bucky's benefit, though their serum enhanced ears can probably hear the other end of the call as well as he can.

"Nat thought you might be there," Bruce says, and Tony can hear his mild relief. "Are you guys all in one piece?"

Tony laughs, "As many pieces as we were last you saw us, but at least one or two of us were missing bits then, so."

Bruce huffs quietly. He rarely laughs properly, though it's worth it when he does. He snorts. Honest to god snorts when he laughs. "Glad to hear it. Nat told me to ask if you're playing nice?"

"Well there was that one brawl... Tell her we're sorry about that vase from the coffee table," Tony jokes.

Steve rolls his eyes, but he's smiling a little.

"Really though, I think being fugitives together has helped. A real bonding experience. It's either get along with each other or spend the time trying to murder each other and foil the others' plans to murder you. And I for one cannot stay awake long enough to keep an eye on two super soldiers all the time, so we opted for the former. Well, unless there's some murderous scheme I haven't uncovered yet and I've been humorously avoiding all efforts to kill me without even realising it," Tony says.

"Dammit, Bucky he's onto us," Steve says.

Bucky curses. "What am I supposed to do with all the you-know-what now?"

Steve shrugs morosely. "I guess we'll just have to take it back to the construction site."

"But what about the..?"

Steve shakes his head.

Bucky sighs. "All that planning for nothing."

Tony grins. "Anyway, to what do we owe the phone call?" He asks Bruce.

"Vision's been in touch," Bruce says. "He says Wanda and the others are fine, don't worry about that," He hastens to reassure them. "Senator Merrick has been trying to pass on a message, apparently. She did approach us, but she got spooked before she could tell us anything. We just assumed it was something to do with her security. She wouldn't be the first to try to hire us, and god knows she's got enough right wing fanatics trying to... Anyway. If she's trying to contact you, it won't be about that. We can't be sure, but the more messages she leaves, the more it seems she wants to talk about the accords and the register. With you."

Tony's grin drops almost as soon as Bruce starts talking. He waits until the end before he speaks, eyes on Steve and Bucky, the former of whom is tense and staring, the latter examining the floor. "She's the one who blocked that bill about restricting mutant reproduction, right?"

"Right. Her daughter's fiance was one of Professor X's students. Aside from that, she's generally stayed pretty neutral, but she has reason to be sympathetic," Bruce says.

Tony rubs his chest as his heart rate increases. It still feels uncomfortable sometimes. Most of the time. "And you think she's sticking her oar in about the register?"

"We think so, yes. Nat's working on a profile right now, or she'd be here. She said she'd have enough to make a recommendation within forty-eight hours, and it's been nearly fourteen already, but we thought you should have a heads up. We also think she's been in touch with Xavier," Bruce says. He sounds tentatively optimistic, a pretty rare thing for Bruce. But then they're all eager to grasp onto any hope that comes along lately.

"She's staging a coup," Tony surmises. "Never would have thought she had it in her."

 "Yes, well. I sincerely doubt she's doing it on her own. My bet would be whoever she's working with decided she's the one we'd be most likely to trust." Bruce sighs and it sounds so very tired, but still better than the last time Tony saw him in person. "Could you put me on speaker? I know they can hear me, I'd rather speak to all of you properly."

Tony does as he's asked.

"Hi, Dr. Banner," Steve says, just loud and clear enough for Bruce to hear him.

"Captain Rogers, Sergeant Barnes," Bruce replies politely. "I assumed you heard what I was talking to Tony about?"

"Yes."

"And what are your thoughts?" Bruce's voice is level, calm. It's exactly the lack of emotion that tips Tony off to how strained Bruce is feeling. 

"Whether Tony talks to this woman or not, I've made my feelings clear about government interference clear many times. My thoughts haven't changed," Steve says.

Bucky stays silent. Tony kind of wonders what's up with that. He'd have thought Bucky would have some pretty strong opinions of his own by now. 

"Tony?" Bruce pleads.

"Really?" Tony asks. "You think they're going to listen to me now? I'm kind of the last person you want trying to win them over. Well, actually, no, scratch that. Ross is the last person, but I'm pretty high up on the list."

"If you can't then I don't think there's much hope for the rest of us," Bruce says. "You're the one there with them, the one who has a detailed list of proposed amendments and probably the most persuasive person I know minus Natasha."

Tony shakes his head. It's a blatant attempt at flattery. And he loves it. "Sorry Bruce. Cap is possibly even more stubborn than I am, if only because of his superior attention span."

Bruce snorts and follows it up immediately with a sigh. "Well, I probably shouldn't stay on the phone too long. JOCASTA and Natasha both assured me it's secure, but they've got people watching me and I'm about due another visit."

"Okay. Thanks for the update. Take care," Tony says.

"You too, Tony." Bruce hangs up.

Tony stares into space for a second, mind already flicking through the possibilities of a senate coup in their favour. He grabs his tablet and starts a google search on Senator Merrick, migrating over to the coffee machine as he types. The next time he surfaces enough to notice his surroundings, he's sitting on the kitchen floor with a dozen tabs open on the tablet in two different browser windows, and Steve and Bucky are gone.

Panic sets in before he can stop it, eyes tracking around the apartment, over one of Steve's half finished sketches lying on the kitchen counter and Bucky's latest book on the arm of the sofa. Bucky's coat is still draped over the other arm.

Tony forces himself to slow his breathing, counting his inhales and exhales. As he always does, he almost hears JARVIS coaching him through. Enough time has passed that it's a bittersweet pang of grief rather than a flood of despair. 

It works. Efficiency born of practice, something like muscle memory setting in and guiding him down. Doesn't make the process any more pleasant though.

Tony squeezes his eyes shut and opens them again, pulling himself to stand. There's a half drunk cup of something that isn't coffee on the TV stand. The apartment doesn't feel empty. They haven't left. They probably just went to bed. He turns around to face the bedroom door seeking verification, and nearly jumps out of his skin. "Holy crap, Barnes!" 

Bucky leaves his shadowed spot in the doorway and comes to stand in the kitchen. "How did you do that?"

Tony leans down to pick up his tablet and coffee mug, already craving the next dose of caffeine and not really paying attention. "Do what?"

"You were having a panic attack," Bucky states.

"Yeah." Tony gives Bucky a funny look. "Not really something I do on purpose."

"You dealt with it. Pulled yourself out. How?" Bucky asks. "I have to wait them out, or have someone help me. You didn't."

"Short answer? Practice. Long answer?" Tony leans back against the counter. "I haven't a fucking clue. I used to have JARVIS guide me through them, and JARVIS was always around. It never used to work on my own. For a while there it didn't work at all. But I guess at some point something clicked, my body got used to the routine and does it almost automatically. Still sucks, but not for as long."

Bucky nods, but doesn't look particularly satisfied with the answer. "Could you teach me?"

Now teaching is something Tony is used to. He's done guest lectures at every university with a science department on the continent. It's good PR, it's fun, and it's a good opportunity to scout up and comers in the field. Thing is, he knows how to teach science. He knows the subject well enough he could probably teach an average five year old to build a combustion engine. He can strip it right back to its basics and make it even more basic if he needs to. He can talk abstract, theory, practical and anything in between. And for 'science' read 'everything within the purview of undergrad level physics, engineering, chemistry, mathematics or biology' as well as 'everything within the purview of engineering period'. But how to pull yourself out of a panic attack is something he only just knows how to do, he doesn't know it nearly well enough to explain it, let alone teach it.

But Bucky is still staring at him like he's the last hope for the planet, and Tony has always had issues with trying to exceed expectations. Well, except those that annoy him. 

"Sure. I can teach you what I do, at any rate. We might wanna move to the couch though. Tile is cold and hard and not particularly conducive to relaxation," Tony says.

Bucky follows without a word. 

They sit down facing each other. Tony is sprawled any which way that's vaguely comfortable, while Bucky is neatly cross legged and straight backed. 

"Okay, so the first thing is to consciously recognise that there's no reason to be panicking," Tony says, thinking hard. "It's pretty difficult when your brain is pretty much non-verbal and freaking out, but it can be done. Most of the time. JARVIS used to tell me where I was, the time and date, that sort of thing. He did it for nightmares and flashbacks too. Just orients you a little."

Bucky nods without blinking.

"So, I basically remind myself if where I am, when I am etcetera," Tony continues, not mentioning that he still hears it all in JARVIS' voice. "Then I work on trying to breathe. Seven seconds in, nine seconds out. Count it in my head. Sometimes I count it out loud. When I can I start looking around, focusing on little details. By then it's usually already winding down."

It seems so simple, said aloud. It isn't. Tony doesn't know how to instruct Bucky in clearing his head of that initial screaming hysteria that doesn't let coherent thought through, let alone a careful reminder of the time and date. Doesn't know how to tell Bucky that sometimes when Tony counts his breaths he loses count and panics about it. Doesn't know how to do this. He didn't even teach himself, JARVIS taught h- Wait. 

"So, there's something I'm thinking of," Tony says slowly.

Bucky frowns. 

"It's only a half thought at the moment, no idea yet how to make it work," Tony continues, reaching for his tablet before realising it's still in the kitchen. It could work. If he managed to adapt the arm somehow, or make some kind of monitor. He'd need some more parts...

"Tony?" Bucky asks.

Tony jumps, already lost in his various ideas on how to make this work.

"What's your idea?"

"Um, well. See, I used to rely on JARVIS. He'd monitor me, notice when I was heading for an attack and guide me through it. But obviously, you have no JARVIS and even if you did, you're not exactly reassured by AIs monitoring and talking to you, so." Tony gets up, heading towards his tablet.

"So?" Bucky follows.

"So maybe Steve's voice, a recording that kicks in or something. I just need to figure out a monitoring, triggering mechanism. You'll probably be too out of it half the time to turn it on yourself, so we need some way to have it turn itself on when needed," Tony says.

"I don't want Steve involved," Bucky says.

Tony pauses. "Why not? I mean, he's the person you trust the most right? He can calm you down?"

"Yes." Bucky doesn't elaborate.

"You're gonna have to work with me here, I have no idea what you find relaxing. I guessed at Steve and I'll have to guess at other stuff ig you don't talk to me," Tony says.

Bucky glances towards the bedroom, and if Tony hadn't seen their oh-so-chaste sleeping arrangements first hand he'd assume Steve was lying naked in bed waiting for Bucky's return. "I want to do this without his help."

It doesn't sound resentful, not that Tony expected it to, just determined. 

"I don't want him to have to do this for me. I want to do this for myself." Bucky meets Tony's eyes. "Steve doesn't need to know this is a problem."

Tony nods. "I think I get it. So whose voice? Male? Female? Orson Wells maybe?"

Bucky shrugs.

Tony rolls his eyes.

"I don't know!" Bucky snaps in exasperation. "There isn't a hell of a lot that calms me these days." 

They stand in thoughtful, tense silence for a few moments.

"You," Bucky says. "You talked me down before. It can be your voice."

Tony's still trying to gather his wits together after _that_  when Bucky head back into the bedroom. 


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so Pros: I didn't take a month to update this time, there's more development for Steve and the plot is moving along a little faster (from this chapter on). Cons: Run on sentences, possible continuity issues and filler chapter.
> 
> Enjoy!

It's getting easier. To watch Tony sling his arm around Bucky's shoulders and not flinch. To see Bucky hold out Tony's coffee and not, for a split second, see a gun in Bucky's hand instead. To see them laugh with each other and not have his shoulders go tight with stress and something like jealousy. 

The first time Steve finds them awake at a ridiculous time in the morning, both crowded around Tony's pile of tools and mechanical scraps, he stares for a full minute before getting his glass of water and going back to bed. 

The second time, he sits on the couch, late night infomercials playing quietly on the TV as he watches them. Tony is fiddling with a tiny circuit-board that seems to have come from the open section of Bucky's arm, or is going to be placed there. Steve can't quite tell. He can tell, however, that Bucky is relaxed. His arm open, Tony reaching in every now and then, and all without a single flinch or clenched jaw.

The third time, Bucky isn't relaxed. His hands are fisted as Tony babbles on about something only Tony is likely able to understand, wary brown eyes scanning Bucky, gauging his reaction every time he moves. He doesn't open the arm that night. Instead he tries to teach Bucky coding.

This time, Steve sits next to Bucky and asks what they're doing.

Tony glances at Bucky before he answers, and Steve catches the tiny nod that prompts Tony to talk. "We're trying to come up with something that'll help Bucky with his panic attacks."

Steve keeps his face carefully neutral. "Yeah? What have you got so far?"

Tony explains, not seeming to care that Steve doesn't really pay attention to a single word. It's stupid, he doesn't want Bucky to have to deal with panic attacks like he has been doing, he wouldn't wish that on anyone. But that he turned to Tony for help stings a little. He's surprised to find that the fact that it's Tony doesn't bother him. It's the fact that Bucky hasn't come to Steve for help even once. 

"I've also been teaching Bucky a little tech know-how. He's got a decent amount of basics programmed in there along with all the murder stuff, but it's deteriorating as the rest of the programming breaks down, so we've been topping it up," Tony continues. "He'll be designing his own flash games in no time."

Steve nods and smiles, though he knows he's convincing no one.

"Actually," Tony says after a moment of looking silently between them both, waiting for them to talk to each other. "I was thinking, if you're gonna start hanging out too, then maybe we should put you to work. I mean, I'm not always going to be around to fix everything and Bucky can't do much with his arm one handed."

It takes a moment to absorb what Tony is offering. "You want to teach me how to fix the arm?"

Tony shrugs. "It's about time, don't you think? I mean, so far the only people allowed near the thing that can actually do anything with it are me and the idiot attached to it. That's not great. I think we need some back up here."

Steve's heart is pounding. "Bucky?"

Bucky nods.

"Where do we start?" Steve asks.

 

 

It's frustrating and slow going. Steve is a fast learner but there's a lot to learn and he's always been more of a practical learner. He spends hours going over the notes and drawings Tony jots down for him, pays fierce attention whenever Bucky is calm enough to allow Tony to open up the arm, but some things just don't make sense until Steve can get in there himself, which is incredibly rare. Bucky doesn't often feel comfortable enough to open it, and when he does the priority is on the upgrade Tony is making for the panic attacks.

Strangely, despite spending a good few hours a day drafting up amendments and points of discussion for the revision of the register, Tony seems content to let Steve and Bucky stay of it. He schedules his calls with Natasha and Bruce for when Bucky and Steve are out running or shopping and does most of his work while they watch Natasha's diverse collection of DVDs.

Steve tries to convince himself that's for the best.

It takes a lot more convincing when he comes home early from running, Bucky going straight to the shower, and overhears Tony and Natasha discussing a special amendment to allow for medical or psychological intervention over military or penal intervention wherever possible when dealing with traumatised 'gifted peoples' as Tony keeps calling them in place of 'heroes' or 'vigilantes'.

The amendment isn't shocking, Tony had promised something similar a while back. It's Steve's own reaction, the instant thought of Bucky's panic attacks, and how Tony was helping him. How before Tony, there was no help available. How if this version of the register had been the one they'd run from, Bucky might have had access to help before now. He's still a long way off accepting the register, but it's the first time he's seen something that could be a real benefit rather than a restriction.

After that it's harder to ignore Tony's indecipherable mutterings as he types away at his tablet.

"Tony?" Steve asks when he's read all of the notes Tony gave him the night before twice.

"Mhm?" Tony answers around his mouthful of pizza.

Steve opens his mouth to ask about the senator and the register and instead says, "Teach me how the coffee maker works?"

Tony squints a little at him, then raises his eyebrows and turns towards the coffee maker. "Okay, but you're buying a new one if we break something taking it apart."

Steve listens as Tony describes the various parts of the machine, but without being able to see them all the descriptions don't stick. Next Tony guides Steve through dismantling the casing, handing him a tiny screwdriver and muttering what Steve's almost certain was a dirty joke at his expense. 

It's a simple machine and it doesn't take as much learning as Steve is sure Tony's state of the art monster back at Avengers tower would, but the light has changed when they look up to find Bucky looking amused and annoyed with an empty coffee cup in his hand.

He tries to raise the topic again the next day when Tony comes out of the bedroom after another phone call, face tense and unhappy. Instead he says, "Come here, I'm going to show you how to shade properly when you sketch," while holding up one of the diagrams of Bucky's arm that Tony drew for him.

Within two minutes, Tony is doodling in the margins and they end up drawing a hilariously mismatched comic strip featuring a stick man and a very well shaded stick woman with huge breasts. Steve sniggers when Tony points out how anatomically correct Steve's drawings of breasts are and it's almost like they're two different men. Ones who never aged past twelve years old for starters, but also ones who never tried to kill each other.

Then the phone rings again and the moment breaks. But Steve is still left with an awful comic strip and the memory of Tony's rambling narration that made Steve laugh out loud more than once.

 

 

They leave the apartment. Because they've been there weeks and eventually someone is going to recognise the two supersoldiers on their jogs around the city, or the billionaire genius buying groceries at 3 am from the 24 hour supermarket every Thursday. It still feels wrong. Feels like they're leaving something behind.

The next safehouse they go to is one of Bruce's. It's out of the state, several bus journeys away, but the risk of the public transport is worth it for the relative lack of surveillance in the area. It's a poor area, little worth policing, and the apartment itself is above a run down drop in clinic that Steve instantly volunteers for. He can't do much, but he does know first aid and no one here cares who he is as long as he's useful. They didn't get any of the sudden surge of vigilantes and heroes around here and they don't show any interest in the places that did.

Steve has to try hard to ignore the causes of some of the illnesses and injuries that come through the clinic, has to try even harder not to go out and put a stop to it. It helps a little when he sees a high school part funded by the Maria Stark Foundation on one of his runs. He raised funds for that project himself, he remembers the godawful gala Natasha dressed him up for. One of the first he'd attended in this century.

Bucky buys potted plants and knick knacks for the apartment as if it's really theirs. His science fiction novels get their own shelf, installed by Bucky himself with a twin right below it covered in little ornaments Bucky picks up from the scraggly flea market that seems to spring up most days out of the week.

There is no coffee maker, and that first night when they open the door and reach the kitchenette Steve thinks for a moment that Tony might actually cry. Tony took out more money from yet another hidden bank account on the trip over then shares it out among the three of them, though mostly they pool what they have on food and other supplies. The coffee maker is the first thing they buy, by unanimous and unspoken agreement.

It takes no time at all for this apartment to feel just as much like home as the last one.

Within a two days Tony's area of tools and scraps starts to host broken things that most certainly don't belong to any of them, which then disappear the next day to be replaced by others. Steve isn't surprised by the baked goods that often appear in the kitchen whenever Tony finishes fixing something, or by the sudden friendliness of their neighbours.

Sometimes, when the clinic isn't so busy, Steve heads upstairs and Tony guides him through fixing a handheld game console, or a powerdrill. Other times he drops onto the ratty, paisley couch and watches as Tony teaches Bucky instead. Occasionally all three of them gather around the growing pile of broken things with cups of coffee and food, and spend the afternoon tinkering.

The TV is old and static filled, so sometimes they take turns to read Bucky's books aloud, laughing at the silly voices and awkward pronunciations that sometimes issue forth.

It's on one of these companionable afternoons of reading and tinkering and laughing that Steve realises he doesn't want it to end.

He wants to keep living in small apartments with Bucky and Tony, wants to keep learning to fix things and keep teaching Tony to draw more artistically, and keep listening to Bucky and Tony bicker over cheesy science fiction. He doesn't want to go back to how things were, with Tony on one side and Steve and Bucky on the other. More than was ever true before Bucky's return, he considers Tony a friend.

 

 

"Janeway," Bucky says after consideration.

Steve is no Trekkie (Clint taught him the term three weeks into his introduction to the 21st century), but even he knows that's a bad answer to give. He braces himself, hunching back into the couch and cradling his drink close to his chest to avoid any flailing arms. 

"Janeway?! Are you serious?!" Tony yells. "How the hell can you pick Janeway over Picard AND Kirk?!"

Bucky shrugs. "Best of both. She's a rulebreaker and smart. And she went up against the Borg Queen and won. Several times."

"I- you- I-" Tony sputters. "How do you even know about that? You cannot possibly have had time to watch all of Voyager!"

Steve almost laughs at Tony's outrage. Almost. Hell hath no fury like a nerd whose favourite character has been dishonoured. Something Steve learned the hard way long ago when Bruce nearly hulked out during a Star Wars vs Star Trek debate with Tony. And Tony hadn't even stopped. Just kept going even as Bruce tinged green.

"Not all of it, but most. Enough to know Janeway would beat Kirk and Picard combined." Bucky says. And it's true. Steve has been party to the marathons. Tony has been too busy to fully appreciate the level of addiction he's inspired in Bucky. Every time Bucky gets control of the ancient TV it's always Star Trek in one incarnation or another, has been since a week into staying at Natasha's apartment. Mainly Voyager. Steve thinks that's probably because of Seven-of-Nine. Or maybe Torres.

"Steve!" Tony turns to Steve for backup.

"I am not getting in the middle of this," Steve says, fully prepared to fend off physical attack.

"Okay, that's it. I don't care, we're staying up all night and we are watching the entirety of the original series. Then tomorrow night we're watching Next Gen," Tony declares.

And Steve knows he shouldn't. Knows he'll regret it later. Even edges towards the door ready to flee. "I actually like Archer. He seems like a swell guy."

Two pairs of mutually horrified eyes turn his way.

Steve makes his escape before they can recover.

He's still laughing to himself as he leaves the building, headed for a coffee place a couple of blocks away that does amazing hot chocolate.

Until he glances in the window of the clinic.


	19. Chapter 19

Bruce is sat in the clinic. His back is to Steve, but Steve could recognise the man anywhere. Unfortunately, he could also recognise him by any body part, human or hulk, at this point. 

Fighting his first instinct to run back up the stairs and grab Bucky, Steve takes a breath and enters the clinic. 

Bruce pretends not to recognise him. These people may not give a damn about the Avengers, past or present, but it's a precaution Steve is grateful for, however ineffectual and unnecessary. It gives him space to breath and to approach Bruce on his on terms. 

Steve washes his hands and puts on his volunteer badge, noting Bruce's matching badge, and goes to assist Bruce with stitching a head wound. He doesn't need assistance, but he smiles as Steve hands him gauze to clean the blood still oozing slightly between Bruce's neat stitches.

"I'm alone," Bruce says when the boy hops down from the bed with a clean dressing on his wound. "I came to talk to Tony."

Steve resists the urge to cross his arms. "Why?"

"We need him to come back," Bruce says. "Natasha and I have tried our best, but we don't have the weight or influence that Tony does. We have a meeting with the UN in two months. Senator Merrick and her colleagues have managed to get us a hearing with them. The current register could be overturned there, especially with support from the Senate, which Merrick thinks she can get provided Tony comes back on as leader of the Avengers. She and Tony have a new international agreement drawn up that would protect our human rights and freedoms and would prevent us ever being used as weapons of war. But without a recognisable spokesperson Merrick doesn't like our chances."

Steve looks around the room, head spinning. He hadn't known any of this. He doesn't know how to feel about any of it. He's lacking context, details that he would have known had he been brave enough to talk to Tony about it when he had the chance. The whole thing sounds ridiculous and unattainable, but if anyone can do it... "How can Tony go back? With everything that's going on, it's not safe for him."

Bruce smiles. It's not a pleasant smile. "If he turns himself in, Merrick has arranged for him to be under house arrest pending trial. Anyone trying to hurt him will have to get through the Avengers and the security Merrick has provided. Turns out, her son in law and his old school friends are happy to help under the circumstances."

Not good enough. Tony won't have Steve or Bucky there, and by Steve doesn't know how to truly trust anyone else. "I don't like this."

"No one asked you to like it," Bruce says, and his tone has gone cold. "This isn't your choice to make."

"I don't care," Steve snaps. He doesn't fold even as Bruce's eyes tinge green. "Bucky nearly got killed under Avenger supervision, you're asking me to let the same thing happen to Tony. Will he even have access to the suit?"

Bruce's jaw tightens. 

"He won't, will he? He won't be able to defend himself!" Steve's voice rises and he forcibly calms himself, waiting for the curious stares around them to turn back to what they were doing before his outburst.

Bruce replaces the paper on the examination bed, and Steve can hear him forcing his breathing even. "Just a couple of months ago we were protecting him from you. You don't get to argue about his safety with me."

"Things were different then," Steve insists.

Bruce turns to meet his eye again. "How?"

A few moments of thought and Steve still doesn't have an answer. Things _are_ different now. Tony is upstairs debating the merits of Star Trek characters with Bucky. Last night he used Steve as a pillow when he fell asleep in front of the TV. The last time Steve saw Tony fire a repulsor blast it was at someone attacking Bucky, and the last time Bucky laid a hand on Tony it was to dust cookie crumbs off his sleeve. But he can't explain how anything is different. Tony's still backing the register, Steve's still against it. Tony still wants Bucky to be put on trial once he can get him there safely, Steve doesn't. They've not talked about any of those things since Bruce's phone call. "He's my friend."

Bruce snorts. "He thought so, before you ripped the reactor from his suit and beat him half to death." He shakes his head. "Either way, it's not for us to decide. Tony can make his own decisions."

Unfortunately Steve can't find it in him to argue with that. Despite how a lot of Tony's decisions turn out Tony's never let anyone control him for long. If Steve tries, even for his own good, he'll lose Tony quicker than Ross and an army of black widows could manage to take him away. "He's upstairs."

They both pause to check that no one else needs help before they leave the clinic. If nothing else, Steve and Bruce have that in common. 

 

Tony is tinkering with a blender one of the neighbours brought round. It's broken beyond repair and the owner knows it, but they'd offered it towards his growing pile of spare parts in case there was something worth salvaging. He fixed their toaster and their waste disposal last week and it was all they could give him in thanks. He's got enough plumbing experience from fixing up Avengers tower to be able to do a decent job on just about any kitchen appliance by now, something a large stack of thank you brownies and two different thank you pies in the refrigerator can testify to.

He's examining one of the motors in the blender when Bruce walks in, Steve close behind. Both look about ready to hulk out.

Tony rises and gives Bruce a solid bro hug. The kind both of them secretly loves, where their strength surrounds each other comfortingly. "Hey, buddy. Wasn't expecting you. What's up?"

"There have been some deleopments with the register. We need you to come home," Bruce explains, cutting straight to the chase.

Tony takes a second to breathe. "Right. Yeah. That's. That sounds important. Do I have time to pack a few things? Just a couple of pet projects to keep me going. I'm assuming I won't be seeing my workshop for a while."

"Sure. Sorry, Tony," Bruce apologises, automatically helping Tony to sort through his tech junk and shove the parts most likely to be useful into a bag. 

Tony shrugs. "We knew I'd have to come back sooner or later. I was getting bored sitting on my thumbs anyway." He fiddles with a rubber band for a moment, wrapping it around his fingers until they go purple. "This was a nice vacation and all, but it's time to get back to work. Does Pepper know I'm coming back?"

"Yeah," Bruce says. "She's actually been helping out with some of the paperwork. Secretly of course, her name is nowhere near any of it. But she's been a big help."

Tony rolls his eyes. "You know, she has the nerve to call me self-destructive and then she pulls stuff like this. How everyone always thinks she's the level headed one I'll never know."

Bruce laughs quietly and hands over a dead gameboy for Tony to decide whether to take.

Steve and Bucky are in the bedroom, supposedly packing their own stuff ready to move onto the next hideout. Really they're bickering in whispers so harsh and loud even normal human ears can make out the odd word. Tony's gonna miss those guys.

"Is Nat home?" Tony asks to get his mind off the people he's leaving. 

"Yeah," Bruce says. "She's there with the new recruits. Parker's apparently thrilled to be her second in command with the rest of us away. Keeps coming up with spider themed duo names for them."

"Cute." Tony tosses the gameboy. Nothing worth salvaging there. He's not sure why kept it to begin with. 

Bruce shakes his head. "He's driving her crazy."

"Nah," Tony sniffs. "She's always had a soft spot for us annoying, fast talking superhero types. I bet she adores him already."

They finish up with Tony's scraps just as Steve and Bucky emerge from the bedroom, Tony's duffel bag of clothes, I.Ds and general travel stuff in Bucky's hand ready packed for him. He passes the bag to Tony and seems to search for something to say for a moment.

"Aw, thanks fellas," Tony says. He slings the duffel of clothes and the bag of scraps over his shoulder. "See you around. Good luck with the fugitive thing. I left some cash in the sock drawer, should last you through the next few hideouts and safehouses. Feel free to eat all the pie, unfortunately I won't be taking it with me."

The two supersoldiers stand there watching as Tony and Bruce head for the door. Tony's kind of disappointed that neither of them say goodbye.

 

"So," Tony says once he's jammed into the passenger seat of Bruce's crappy loaner car. "We headed for the tower or what?"

"We're headed for a press conference. I sent Pepper word as soon as you agreed to come with me. There's a conference scheduled at one of the Maria Stark community buildings in Brooklyn, Merrick's sent security on ahead. We're going to say that's where you've been hiding," Bruce explains. He hesitates. "Don't tell them Steve was with you."

Tony sighs. "Yeah, okay. Can I at least change my clothes first? My audience expects certain things from me."

Bruce smiles but shakes his head. "Sorry, Tony. Pepper and Natasha said it'll help if the public can see you haven't been living the high life while evading custody."

"But I look like crap," Tony whines. "Come on! I'm already naked without my van dyke, don't make me do a press conference in sweatpants! Even after Afghanistan I didn't wear sweatpants."

"Let me put it this way. You have time for one of two things. Either you can change your clothes, or you can delete the traffic cam footage of us leading back to Steve and Barnes," Bruce reasons.

"Fine," Tony grumbles. He pulls a Stark pad from the glove compartment when Bruce gestures towards it. He can't fight the grin at using his own tech again. "Oh, baby I've missed you. Come to Daddy."

Bruce shakes his head again and ignores Tony as he fondles the tablet. 

 

The crowd is huge. The biggest press conference Tony's drawn solo since the Mandarin incident. A small stage usually used for community theatre is set up ready for Tony. It's a less welcoming, more intimidating, less dazzling homecoming than the ones of the past. This is the homecoming of a criminal.

When Tony enters the building there's a moment where no one notices. His disguise holds up even in a room full of people looking for him. Then one reporter, then another sees through the lack of luxury and the room begins to buzz with shouted questions, flashing cameras and moving feet as everyone in the room tries to get to him at once. If he hadn't been used to this from childhood Tony would probably be overwhelmed to the point of panic. As it is, something in his chest that had been waiting to be seen leaped up to face the music.

The steps to the stage are short, made long by the press of people impeding his progress. A tinge of green over Bruce's skin gets the crowd to back off enough for him to pass. At every exit a member of plain clothed security stands, apart from the side exit where they stand in full uniform.

Tony squares up to the microphone with a feeling close to relief. He's never been comfortable being hidden and silent, he does some of his best work here in the spotlight. "Hello ladies, gentlemen and everyone in between. I heard you've been looking for me?" He waits for the inevitable roar of questions to die down a little, helping it along with a quelling hand gesture. He looks for the biggest cameras and aims a smile at each. "As you may know, I've been away for a little while. Unavoidable I'm afraid. You've probably all seen stuff from the little spat I was in recently. Surprisingly fighting alongside good old Captain America and his ex-assassin pal and not against them for a change."

He pauses to drink some of the water Bruce places by the podium. Waits for the information to sink in. For the live news reports to bring up footage of the event in question.

When he's certain it's time to move on he leans against the podium and continues. "As you may not know, Bucky Barnes turned himself in a few months ago." Another roar of questions, another quelling gesture. "Barnes surrendered himself to Avenger custody to await trial. He was held voluntarily in Avengers Tower and questioned by multiple authorities. I have footage of him chilling in a guest room under house arrest, not bothering anyone, if anyone wants to give my PR team a call they'll shoot you a copy. Within a week of his unconditional surrender, an assassin gained entry to the tower and tried to murder Sergeant Barnes under orders from General Ross. Her own words. Again, I have the footage. During the fight, Captain America broke in and rescued Barnes. Call me old fashioned, but I believe in fair trial, not unconstitutional execution, so given the choice between letting an assassination happen right in front of me or letting Barnes go, I chose the latter. Afterwards I left to track Barnes down again and instead got into another fight with the assassin. The new one, not Barnes. Though he was there. Barnes scarpered with Captain America again and until I have the assassin contained or called off, he's not coming back. I want to reiterate that none of this would have happened had General Ross left Barnes in the lawful custody of the Avengers." He pauses one final time and steps slightly away from the podium. "Questions?"

A guy in a rumpled blue shirt with no tie, probably here on his day off and hurriedly dressed once the conference was announced, holds up his hand. At Tony's pointed finger he clears his throat. "Are you saying you defended a terrorist against US forces?"

Tony shakes his head in a theatrical show of disappointment. "Somebody wasn't paying attention. Barnes was under Avenger custody. Agreed by every major agency in the country. It was my duty to protect the guy as much as contain him when an illegal and immoral assassination attempt was made. Come on people, Barnes handed himself over. How does it look if he dies in Avenger Tower after turning himself in to us?"

"So you let him free on the streets where he could have caused unknown damage and loss of life?" Another reporter picks up.

Tony shrugs. "I made sure he wouldn't hurt anyone. I wouldn't have let him go otherwise." He turns to another section of the audience. "I'm done with this topic. You, something new, go."

A red faced 20-something reporter, probably from Buzzfeed or something, stutters out the next question. "You say you fought alongside Captain America. Does this mean you and he are back on friendly terms? Have you switched sides?"

Tony makes a wavy but dismissive hand gesture. "We had a heart to heart and found some middle ground on Barnes for the time being. In that, neither of us wants him assassinated. I trust that the good Captain will prevent Barnes from hurting anyone else until we can get him a fair, safe trial. As for the other stuff, I've found we stand together on the very important issue of the new Star Trek movies; good fun but not real Star Trek; and on the issue of Coke vs Pepsi; Coke every time. Everything else is the same as ever. Iron Man and the Avengers are still 100% committed to keeping the public safe, even from ourselves."

Tony can practically see the '10 things' article compiling itself behind the guy's eyes as he notes down Tony's answer.

Another reporter. "Are you aware of the warrants for your arrest? Did they play any part in your going on the run?"

The press conference goes on the same way for another half an hour, questions ranging from sympathetic to calling him a terrorist sympathiser. He answers each as carefully as he can, avoiding details of his time with Steve and Bucky, making sure to mention that he didn't spend the entirety of his absence with Steve, dropping hints about major changes to the register without compromising their position in negotiations. It's exhausting but it feels great to actually be doing something more than running and hiding. He leaves when the strain in Bruce's eyes reaches breaking point, stepping down from the stage and over to Senator Merrick's security staff, making a show of holding his wrists out for the handcuffs and waving goodbye to his audience as they bundle him out into the black SUV waiting by the sidedoor.

The Senator and Natasha are both waiting inside the car and Bruce follows in a second car behind them.

Tony rolls his shoulders and shoots a grin at Natasha and Merrick. "How'd I do?"

Senator Merrick stares him down, brown eyes levelling him more effectively than the yelled accusations of a dozen military tools. "Unnecessarily long and too sympathetic to Rogers and his followers. We need to present a strong front against these rebels if we're to have any hope of being given authority over them. We can't display any amount of trust in them or approval of their behaviour."

"What was I supposed to say? 'Yes, I left a dangerous ex-assassin to his own devices in the middle of New York because reasons'?" Tony asks. 

"How about 'no comment'?" Merrick replies. "We could have handled that later."

Tony shrugs and turns to Natasha. "How are the kids?"

"They're... learning," Natasha says. "If we can buy them enough time, they could really be something."

Tony nods. "So what next?"

"Next we brief you on the situation. Regretfully, we needed the public display before we could get started, but you need to be up to date before you talk to anyone else," Merrick says. "And we need you to reveal the full situation regarding Steve Rogers, James Barnes and their accomplices. We need to have a strategy in mind, an alternative to Ross' methods to present when necessary."

Tony nods again. Makes sense. "Sure. Can we get food first?"


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a couple of things:   
> 1\. I recently realised I completely forgot Ant Man existed for most of this fic. Easy mistake to make.   
> 2\. There is a character in here who I know exists in current live action canon, but who I only know from comics (strange turnaround I know), so I'll try not to destroy their MCU background, but they will be mostly based on recent comics. There's a reference to said comics and a relationship that was retconned by MCU. Take the two canons as being merged in this instance, both timelines slightly screwed up in order to incorporate both.  
> 3\. I have actually proofread this. It still has run on sentences and it's pretty fragmented. Sorry.

"It's strange," Bucky says out of the blue. They've been on the bus for nearing four hours and neither has spoken in at least three.

Steve takes a moment to break out of his reverie. "What is?"

"The quiet."

Steve huffs a half laugh. He'd thought the same earlier. Without Tony rambling on about whatever came into his head at the time neither of them has much to talk about. Bucky used to be a talker before HYDRA got hold of him, but these days he's as recalcitrant as Wanda on a bad day. As for Steve, he is trying to get to know the new Bucky, but it's damn hard when near everything he ever wants to say to him starts with 'remember when'.

They're headed for the home of an ex-SHIELD agent, one who left some time after the HYDRA resurgence, hopefully disconnected enough that no one will think to check for a connection. Steve doesn't know her well but she'd seemed decent enough back at SHIELD, and Clint had made a good case for trusting her. If he's honest, Steve's hoping she's the chatty type.

"Will the others be there?" Bucky asks after another few minutes of quiet.

Steve shakes his head. "They'll meet us later, they're headed out in another direction first to throw off any tails. Scott's still dealing with his own stuff but he says he'll be back soon."

"Can we give the wrong address?" Bucky grumbles. Steve has no idea what happened, but Bucky's had something against Scott since he last tried to repair the arm a few months ago. Steve would understand, but Bucky had given permission for the repairs and let Clint tranq him to prevent any problems.

Steve nudges him with a shoulder, glad when Bucky shoves him back. "I bet he'll be pissed that you can fix the arm yourself now."

Bucky smiles at that. Small and dim, but there. "He'll be even more pissed that Tony's the one who showed me how."

"Too right," Steve snorts.

Bucky opens his mouth to speak, but hesitates.

Steve nudges him again, more gently this time. "What?"

"Will Tony be okay?" Bucky asks. "Will they still go after him now he's not with us?"

"Probably," Steve admits, pushing back his own fears to reassure Bucky. "But he can look after himself. He'll have Bruce and Natasha, and whoever else they've recruited. Probably safer than we are."

Bucky nods and sits back, clearly done talking.

Steve sighs and goes back to playing Angry Birds.

 

The briefing is long and tedious, and Tony isn't even allowed to fiddle with his phone during. It's awful. He barely takes anything in. Luckily, Bruce knows him well enough to record the whole thing, otherwise Tony would just do whatever he thought was a good plan at the time which historically has tended to go very, very wrong.

Merrick is a good person, he's sure. Or, well, reasonably certain. But she's not the most dynamic person, far too concerned with the details for Tony's taste. He's way more of a 'go with the flow' type person, though as previously mentioned that's not always a good thing. Really, it's probably for the best that Merrick and Natasha are doing this with him or he'd probably turn up at the UN and filibuster on tangentially linked topics for an hour and hope that charisma and witty comebacks carried him through.

His fingers itch to text Bucky and Steve some comparison between the UN and Starfleet.

"Did you at least get the part about your arraignment?" Bruce asks on the way back to the tower. Where Tony now has to stay until said arraignment.

"Not really. It's fine, Merrick says I'm not allowed to represent myself anyway." Something Tony is still bitter about. He's done well as his own council in the past, but now apparently he's not diplomatic enough and needs someone else to do it for him. "So I get the suit's off limits, but do I get any workshop access? Not even a little? I mean, technically I'm still an S.I employee, I have obligations."

Bruce sighs and looks Natasha dead in the eye. "He's your problem until this is over."

Natasha doesn't bother to hide her amusement even as she continues texting various people. Tony would bet one of them is Steve.

 

Unfortunately, 'house arrest' does seem to mean no workshop access. He's allowed his holoscreens, but even then his internet access is limited. He could get around it, but showing willing is kind of important at this point so he's trying to be good for now. Still sucks.

He's undecided as to whether the presence of various B list X-men is his security detail is a plus or not. A couple of them keep giving him dirty looks, but they'd probably fair much better against the type of goons likely to target Tony than regular folk. None of his security, vanilla human or mutant, are particularly talkative. At least not with him. He's pretty sure at least one or two of them have psychic powers and are using them to gossip about him behind his back. Part of him wishes he'd hacked Xavier's school records when he had the chance so he'd know for sure what kind of protection he's got going on. Still, he'd probably have ended up getting a less than friendly mutant visit if he had.

No access to his workshop and limited internet access doesn't stop him designing stuff, so he's finishing up a design for the triggering process for Bucky's chill out program when Pepper visits. As recommended by Merrick, she's got Happy with her as a weird kind of chaperone. Tony's really not sure who that's supposed to convince, Happy being his friend too, but he supposes it makes some kind of sense to take precautions for Pepper's reputation. Can't have people thinking she's colluding. Even so, Happy's off interrogating Tony's security as soon as the greetings are out of the way.

"I shouldn't really be here, but I wanted to talk to you without it going through Natasha or Senator Merrick first," Pepper says. She's impeccable as always, but Tony can tell how stressed she is. He'd feel bad, but she's the one who keeps involving herself despite her previous determination to stay out of his superheroing. 

Tony makes her a coffee, trying hard to remember how she takes it. When they were together and happy she'd let it slide most of the time, but a stressed Pepper is a volatile Pepper and he doesn't want to pile anything on if he can help it. 

When they're sat comfortably Pepper sets her drink to the side and reaches for Tony's hand. He suspects it's so she can lean in close enough to speak quietly without looking suspicious to his security. "Ignore Merrick," She says softly. It sounds almost like she's consoling him, but the look in her eyes says otherwise. "You're always at your most persuasive when you're passionate, and she's trying to take passion out of the equation. I get it, she wants to win with reason and negotiation, and she has a point. But that's not you, if you try it you'll come off as fake. Deceptive."

Tony opens and closes his mouth a few times. "Are you, Pepper Potts, CEO of S.I, previous PA to myself, the woman who has consistently tried to get me to be more rational, advising me to go with my gut?"

Pepper almost seems pained as she answers. "Yes."

"I don't get it."

Pepper smiles weakly and leans back to sip her drink. "It happens very rarely, and never where S.I is concerned, but I am very occasionally wrong. And I'm a big enough person to admit it. You would never have won the right to keep the suit to yourself if you'd played by the rules. This is one of those situations where playing fair won't cut it. Ross and his backers won't." She stares into her coffee and deliberates. "His argument will be against you and the Avengers personally. He's going to try to convince the Senate the Avengers are too dangerous to have their own legal powers. That the accords as they stand are the better alternative, that he can keep you all under control.

"I have reason to believe Ross has been in contact with loved ones who have been hurt by members of the Avengers, both before and after they joined the team. He's going to use Natasha and Bruce as the centerpoints for his argument. There are people from the Hulk's rampages, Natasha's old targets, people who've been caught in the crossfire between you and Steve. Reason and negotiation aren't going to cut it when he's got crying widows and orphans to parade."

"And you think one of my 'grand productions' as I believe you've called them in the past, can top crying widows and orphans?" Tony asks doubtfully.

"No. I think Tony Stark, arguing for the lives and freedoms of the people he cares about, can win against Ross' manipulations," Pepper says. "I think the man who convinced the highest powers in the United States that he should have sole control of Iron Man, and then custody of the Winter Soldier, can convince the Senate and then the UN that the safest hands for the Avengers are his."

Tony laughs at that. "I know I'm awesome and all, but I think that's taking it a little far."

"I don't," Pepper argues. "This is your plan. Your strategy. Merrick has her part to play, but it's you that's got this thing to a place where we have a viable alternative to argue for."

Tony laughs again, unsure how to respond to the vote of confidence. Pepper's always been one of his biggest supporters, but the superhero stuff has always been a sore spot at the best of times.

Pepper finishes her drink and changes the topic to S.I projects. Apparently house arrest doesn't get him out of troubleshooting the latest update to the Starkpad.

 

A pretty blonde opens the door to Steve's knocking. Bucky wonders if it's somehow a secret serum side effect that they come into contact with so many attractive people. Maybe it acts as some kind of lure or compass towards pretty people.

"Rogers," The blonde greets, smile friendly but tone wary.

"Morse," Steve responds.

A beat of uncomfortable silence follows before she shows them in. Once the door is closed, the tense atmosphere dissolves, though no one is exactly at ease.

"Call me Bobbi," Bobbi tells them in a belated response to Steve's greeting. "Any friend of Clint's and all." 

Bobbi leads the way further into the apartment and into the kitchen. It's spacious, clean and uncluttered.

"New place?" Steve echoes Bucky's own thoughts.

Bobbi shrugs. "Ish. Most of my personal stuff is... elsewhere." She puts a kettle on to boil and rummages through a cupboard, coming out with a three Avengers mugs and setting them down on the counter. "Have you guys had a chance to see Stark's surrender conference?"

"Not yet," Steve replies. "How did it go?"

"Well they arrested him, but other than that it went fine," Bobbi says. Then, "Mind if I ask about the assassin that's after you? What I should look out for?"

Bucky waits for Steve to answer her, but Steve looks at him. 

"You know more than I do, Buck," Steve reminds him.

What should he say? That if Bobbi notices Belova then it's too late anyway? He struggles to find words to describe the situation. "If she comes here then... We'll deal with her."

Bobbi raises her eyebrows at the lack of a real answer but doesn't press him. "I recorded the press conference if you want to watch it. I also got Senator Merrick's speech from afterwards, though it's not very interesting. Just the usual 'the situation is being dealt with' line."

Steve and Bucky don't need to be told twice, already turning for her TV. 

Bobbi comes through to turn on the conference and then heads back into the kitchen.

Tony looks good. Confident. But Bucky's seen enough of the man to know that looks mean nothing, Tony could be bleeding internally and he'd still be able to fool the press into thinking he was fine. The conference contains nothing Bucky didn't know already, though Steve's interest peaks in certain places.

By the time the conference is over, Bobbi's handing them both mugs of tea and setting out a plate of cookies. She looks between them both. "Thoughts?"

"He seems okay," Steve answers vaguely.

"I was talking more about the whole register thing. Better or worse?" Bobbi pops a cookie into her mouth whole

Steve hesitates. "I don't know. Better, maybe."

Bucky nods. 

"Clint said to call him when you got here," Bobbi says through her half masticated cookie. "You wanna phone? Or you using your own?"

"I'll call him." Steve pulls out the phone Tony modded for him a couple of weeks ago. "Could we have a moment?"

Bobbi smiles widely. "Sure."

Bucky is more than sure she's going to be listening somehow, but she's putting herself at risk for them so it seems rude to say anything.

Clint picks up after a few rings. "Yo."

"Hi, Clint. We made it to Bobbi's," Steve tells him.

"Cool. Any trouble on the way?"

"None."

"Bobbi treating you okay?" Clint asks.

"Yeah, she's been great so far. Very hospitable," Steve says, and he doesn't say anything else. 

Clint hums in agreement. "You haven't drunk anything she's given you yet, right?"

Steve pauses, pulling his mug away from his lips. "Why?"

"...It's probably fine," Clint responds. "Just... Watch out for any thermometers or needles."

"Clint."

"It's nothing!" Clint says. "She probably wouldn't try anything."

Steve puts his mug down with a suspicious glare.

Bucky munches on a cookie and turns back to the TV. Bobbi has netflix. He ignores the rest of Steve and Clint's conversation, sure Steve will catch him up on anything important later.

Eventually Steve hangs up and Bobbi comes back in right on cue. Grabbing the remote, she catches Steve dubious look. "Ignore Clint. I'm not putting anything in your food, he just doesn't know how to let things go."

 

Tony watches as two of his guards turn and nod at each other without saying a word. "Definitely psychic," he mutters to himself. He'd love to discuss the mechanics, but the unfortunate part about mutant powers is that their owners usually know very little about how they work. Ask Bruce about the Hulk and he can recite a research paper's worth of knowledge. Ask one of Xavier's kids and most of the time all you'll get is a speech about control and focus.

He's finished the designs on Bucky's anti-panic attack implant, though he can't build it. Last time he went near his scrap pile he got half a dozen mutants and cops lecturing him on the terms of his house arrest. He did actually read the warrant. All it says is no weapons and no workshop, tinkering with odds and ends isn't in there, but try telling that to his babysitters.

Basically, he's bored. So very bored. 

Back with Steve and Bucky it was bad enough, no access to his workshop, only a few projects he could work on. But at least he had people to hang out with, appliances to mend and Bucky's arm to look at. Here and now all he has are a few mildly interesting S.I blueprints and some surly, stoic type people. Even Bruce and Pepper haven't visited in a couple of days.

He has been working on preparing evidence and arguments should he decide to follow Pepper's advice and take over the register talks. It's fun to fantasise about all the ways he could stick it to general Ross. And Steve, to be honest, though that urge has oddly declined in recent months. Hanging out with the guy has changed their relationship, though he couldn't really say how. Captain Holier-Than-Thou still annoys the crap out of him, but there's something about the earnest determination on his face whenever Tony taught him about Bucky's arm or the various appliances he fixed. Something about the glint in his eye when he was about to do something risky and ill advised that Tony recognised from himself. He never would have thought to compare himself with Captain America favourably before he got to know Steve, but now he can admit that he is smarter than Steve (for all his assertions, he'd always doubted his IQ could be higher than a serum enhanced one), they have roughly the same levels of loyalty and self-preservation, he's better at people than Steve is. Though the hero persona Steve holds does him no end of favours, Steve himself is awkward and confrontational most of the time, and painfully self-righteous pretty much all the time. 

This knowledge helps to alleviate the sting of knowing all the ways in which Steve is superior, and that in turn helps him to think more warmly of the guy. The jealousy is all but gone, along with the pain of disappointing his childhood hero and teenage crush.

Maybe that's the difference. He knows he doesn't have to live up to Steve anymore.

As for Bucky, their relationship is... complicated. He has to admit that Wanda's comparison to her own relationship with the Vision might not have been too far from the mark, but the brainwashing thing, well it doesn't put him off exactly, it's more that he feels he has to tread carefully. It makes the whole relationship, friendly or otherwise, feel like it's constantly shifting. The Winter Soldier is hated, Bucky is attractive, and the person in between is regarded with a level of affection that feels more appropriate for a carer or a family member.

Whatever changes his interpersonal relationships with the various members of Team Cap have undergone are pretty irrelevant right now anyway, so he does his best to ignore his confused thoughts.

Instead he works on visualising Ross's face when the Avengers and the register are removed from his influence completely. It helps.

He's in the middle of one such daydream when the call comes through. Natasha's caught up to Yelena, though that's all they know for the moment. The implications are wide reaching. Especially regarding his public stance on bringing Bucky and Steve into custody.

The wait is painful, but eventually information begins to trickle through. 

"Agent Romanoff has checked in," The agent on the phone tells him. "She's injured but in a stable condition. The assassin has not been brought into custody."

"Yeah, whatever. Let me talk to Romanoff," Tony demands. 'Stable' doesn't mean a whole lot when dealing with SHIELD's revamped, shadowy reboot. They have a funny way of dealing with 'almost dead' that tends to have rather interesting repercussions.

The agent transfers him without another word, no doubt happy to be rid of him. Tony's spent the better part of an hour basically asking 'what about now' every two minutes.

It takes a little while to get through to Natasha, but she answers for herself which goes a long way towards reassuring Tony that she's okay. "I got her," She tells him, a little breathless but no other indication that she's in any kind of pain. "I didn't bring her in, but I got her."

Tony nods even though he knows she can't see him. "What about you, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Natasha says. "They're patching me up now. Nothing serious. She was injured from her fight with Barnes, it made it easier."

"Where is she?" Tony asks.

"Somewhere no one will find her. She's not getting free anytime soon," She replies cagily. "Given your legal situation, it's probably best you don't know the specifics."

"Fine," Tony agrees, making a mental note to dig into it himself later. "You heading home?"

"Not yet."

Tony sighs. It would have been nice to have a visit to anticipate. "Okay. So what's the plan now?"

Natasha's silent for a moment before she answers. "I'm going to lay low for awhile. It's for the best."

"Is this because of Ross? Because of the register?" Tony pushes. "Because that's bullshit. Laying low makes you look guilty, and it's not going to stop him telling the world every sordid detail of your past. We need you here."

"The less I have to do with the register-"

"The more Ross gets to slander you," Tony interrupts. 

"Tony," Natasha warns.

Tony waves a hand she can't see anymore than any of the other gestures he's made during the conversation. "No, listen. I know you think having you around will poison negotiations, but Ross is still gonna talk about you, and without you there to show everyone different he's going to get them to think whatever he wants them to about you. I get that it's tempting and maybe Merrick even asked you to take a step back, but hiding is not an option here."

"I've got to go," She says.

"No. No, Nat, tell me you're coming home," Tony demands.

Natasha hangs up.


	21. Chapter 21

Steve has been reading through the amendments. Like an idiot, Tony sent them out to every vigilante or super human he knows of that hasn't already signed the register. It's amazing he hasn't been locked in a room without any tech. Just a bed and a book. Though knowing Tony he'd still find a way to cause trouble.

Truth is, Steve's worried about him. They haven't heard from him in four days, and while Steve knows the man has no real reason to keep them apprised, he can't help but be irritated that Tony seemingly doesn't realise the radio silence is driving Steve and Bucky insane. Bucky hasn't slept more than a few hours since they left Bruce's safehouse, and Steve isn't much better off. For all Steve knows, Tony's locked up in Alcatraz or whatever the modern equivalent is. The amendments were leaked before Tony even gave his press conference, probably sent from his tablet in the car ride over. 

This is the jumble of Steve's thoughts as he not so slowly goes stir crazy stuck in Bobbi's apartment with nothing to do but wait.

So he's reading through the amendments.

There are still some issues he'd like to talk over, Tony's amendments are hardly perfect, but they're better than anything Steve could've expected. It helps. To know that Tony is doing some good even if he's not with them. Steve's still not sure he'd sign anything that requires people with abilities to reveal themselves, but he's no longer so worried for those that do sign it. If Tony's amendments pass, which is far from guaranteed.

He looks up from his latest perusal, paper notepad beside him filling up with notes on the subject, to find Bucky practically curled into a ball in the chair. "Bucky, you okay?"

Bucky doesn't answer, and now that Steve's paying attention, he can see the way Bucky's hands are clenched, his eyes staring hard into the floor.

"Bucky?" Steve says more gently. He slowly gets up from the couch and kneels in front of the chair. "Hey, look at me."

Bucky's eyes flicker to Steve's for a brief moment before going back to the floor. His breathing is even, if a little shallow.

"You're not.... Are you having a panic attack?" Steve asks, because it's better to be safe than sorry and as little as he knows about panic attacks or anxiety attacks, he knows Tony doesn't always exhibit the classic symptoms so why should Bucky?

Bucky shakes his head and works his jaw for a few seconds. "No."

"So what's wrong?" Steve presses. He doesn't want to push too far, but he also doesn't want to leave Bucky alone in this mood. It never seems to end well.

"What if they hurt him?" Bucky asks. "Because he helped me."

Steve pushes aside his own doubts. "He's fine. He'd find a way to tell us if he weren't. Besides, he's got Natasha and Bruce with him, as well as all their new recruits. No way they let anyone hurt Tony."

Bucky nods but doesn't uncurl.

"Have you read the amendments he's trying to make?" Steve asks, more to distract Bucky than anything. 

Bucky nods again. "Tony talked to me about them sometimes."

Steve fights back a sharp, hot burst of anger that ripples through him. He doesn't even know who it's directed at, Bucky for considering signing after everything, Tony for trying to convince Bucky, or himself for avoiding the topic when Tony was still with them. He has a feeling it's the latter. "Great. Maybe you can talk me through them. I have a few questions and nobody to ask."

Bucky stares at the laptop Steve's been working off and slowly uncurls, reaching out a hand. Steve passes him the laptop. "What questions?" Bucky asks.

Steve smiles a little and reaches for his notepad.

 

Steve get more and more restless the more time passes since they last heard word of Tony. Bucky feels like he should ask him about it, help him relax, but as always seems to happen when he feels he should be helping, he's paralysed by the thought of what the old Bucky might have done and how he'd have done it. He's terrified that his efforts won't match up, and ashamed that it stops him from trying.

So Steve gets more restless, and Bucky gets more withdrawn, and Bobbi gets sick of them both and goes out for most of the day doing things she won't explain beyond a vague 'going to see a guy about something' or 'running errands'.

Bobbi's place is nice, but it's a new build nothing like Bucky's ever lived in before and it makes him uncomfortable. He feels overwhelmingly like he might break the modern furniture and scuff the glossy surfaces. 

Overall, Bucky's miserable. 

The others are due to arrive any moment after waiting three days and he can't stand the thought of being crowded in this shiny apartment, surrounded by people he owes too much and knows too little. In all the months he spent with them, he never got to know any of them so well as he already knows Tony. Even Sam, who Bucky has a begrudging fondness for is a relative stranger. He feels about 'Team Cap' as Tony calls them, how most people feel about their work colleagues.

They arrive in a state of comparative chaos at different times and in different manners, each arrival spurring a wave of greetings that put Bucky's teeth on edge. Wanda looks at him curiously when she enters, and just on the off chance that she's breaking her promise not to read minds without permission, Bucky fills his head with screams and unpleasant images. The fact that she doesn't react reassures him, but not enough to drop his guard. He has enough people in his head.

Clint is the last to arrive, several hours after the others and with an expression that says there's somewhere he'd far rather be. Bucky doesn't ask and no one else seems to notice.

"Any word from Stark?" Clint asks in a near perfect imitation of casual interest. Wanda looks curious and Sharon tries her best not to pay attention to the answer.

Steve clenches his jaw and looks out of the window. "Nothing."

Clint nods like that was the answer he was expecting.

"You could contact him," Scott suggests. 

"They'll be watching him to see if he's in contact with us," Sharon says, giving up her pretence. "If we contact him and they find out then it'll make things worse for him. We have to wait. If he feels like it, he'll contact us if and when he can."

Bucky scowls. Before, Sharon's offhanded dislike of Tony had been a matter of indifference to him but now it grated on him. "He will contact us," He emphasises, meeting her eye. 

Steve darts a concerned look at Bucky. "I'm sure he will. Until then... Well. We lie low, I guess."

"Why do we not attempt to rid ourselves of the threat?" Wanda asks.

Bucky feels himself tense, feels himself begin to lose perspective as his world narrows down to Wanda. "Try it."

Wanda tilts her head curiously, displaying remarkably little fear. Though perhaps that wouldn't be the case if she weren't surrounded by her super hero friends. "I was talking about the assassin who is targeting us. Or rather, you."

The focus doesn't dissipate until he's certain she's telling the truth. The silence stretches before at last, Bucky is satisfied. "You could get hurt. It's better if I face her when I'm stronger." 

Really he's not sure why he's running scared having injured her. Or rather, he is. Primarily it's to protect Steve. If he could separate from him without Steve becoming a target, Bucky would leave and take her out himself. But a secondary motive lurks in the way she had used those trigger words, her links to the Red Room and HYDRA. He's not running from Yelena Belova. Not really. 

Wanda accepts the answer with a small, knowing smile. "Our pasts are difficult to face."

"Stay outta my head!" Bucky takes a step towards her.

Steve is between them before Bucky can take a second step. "Calm down, breathe," Steve tells Bucky quietly. Then he turns to Wanda. 

"I was not in his head," She says before Steve can say a word. "I did not need to be. We are... alike." Her gaze is steady on Bucky as she speaks.  "I am sure there is much of interest in there, but I have no wish to be killed by the Winter Soldier."

"...Alright," Steve says begrudgingly. "But you have to stop provoking him."

Wanda just smiles. It's creepy to say the least.

Clint waits until Bucky has taken a seat, somewhat calm, before he tells them: "Natasha took Yelena down an hour or so ago."

"What?!" The word choruses from every mouth in the room save Clint's. 

"The assassin's not a problem anymore," Clint says. "We've just got... Oh, the police, the military, the CIA, the NSA, SHIELD, and anybody else who has a grudge or a legal complaint against us, to worry about."

"We get the point, Clint," Steve says. "Why weren't we told before?"

Clint shrugs. "We're hiding anyway. I got told, I told you. Lines of communication are messy when you're on the run."

"How's Natasha?" Steve asks with a glance at Bucky.

"She's fine. Ish," Clint winces. "She'll live."

"Did she kill her?" Sam asks.

"Not for us to know," Clint replies jovially. Or in a pretence of joviality at least. "Ether way, the bitch isn't our problem anymore."

Bucky isn't sure how to feel. On the one hand he feels bereft. The black widow was his to take out, a way to prove his rebellion and confront his demons. On the other... With no assassin on his trail he is free to do as he likes. He can leave again with no fear of putting Steve in danger. He can... 

He notices Steve watching him, following his thought process with an ease that comes from their friendship pre- HYDRA and from the last few months in close quarters. Steve doesn't say anything for now, but for the rest of the evening he doesn't let Bucky out of his sight.

 

The next day the team disperses. They don't go far, dotted around motel rooms and abandoned properties and mostly just keeping busy with anything they can find to do.

Bucky, Steve and Clint go out for burgers. Before the Avengers parted ways they used to go for food whenever something was bothering one of them, and Steve's a sucker for tradition. He also has a serious lack of any other ideas to try to get Clint to talk.

The burgers are okay, neither particularly good or bad. The place is clean. That's about all that can be said for it.

Bucky's been silent by his side since they left Bobbi's and seems content to let Steve take this one on his own. Steve sighs remembering a time when he had Bucky on side to help him whenever one of the commandos got like this. They'd taken Dum Dum out for a night of drinking after he heard about his sister. Bucky had challenged him to a drinking game and was passed out under the table by the time Dum Dum was drunk enough to talk to Steve about it. Without Bucky's help putting him at ease, Dum Dum might have stayed silent and kept up with his increasingly self-destructive behaviour, got himself killed before Bucky or Steve.

It's less difficult to let go of the old Bucky now, as he gets to know the new one and finds just how much he likes the guy, but it's still hard at times like this.

Steve clears his throat, ready to try to tackle the issue now that Clint's halfway through his burger.

Clint drops his burger and leans back with a sigh. "I knew I shouldn't have fallen for the 'let's go out to lunch' thing. I knew it was a trap."

"It's not a trap," Steve says, wondering not for the first time if there's a superhero in existence that isn't deathly afraid of their own feelings and having to talk about them. "I just want you to know we're here. If you want to talk about it."

"Bullshit," Clint says frankly. "Look, I get that you mean well so I'm gonna cover the basics to stop you looking at me like that, but don't you dare think that you're entitled to know my every waking thought just because you're the captain."

Steve resists the urge to roll his eyes and tries to think of what Bucky, the old Bucky, would say in this situation. "Thank you so very much. I'll try not to give a shit in future."

"I didn't mean it like that, I just meant... Sometimes my shit is my shit, you know? And if I want help with it then I'll ask," Clint clarifies. 

"Sure," Steve says, unconvinced.

Clint pops a fry into his mouth and shifts so that he's facing a little away from Steve as he talks. "Tasha contacted me. Not just about Yelena. She wants me to read Stark's new line on superheroing and go back."

Steve nods. He's not altogether surprised, Natasha never gave up pitching the register to get the team back together and now would be a weird time to stop. 

"And, well, it's not bad. Could use a few tweaks, but it's better than Ross' crappy version," Clint says.

"So what's the problem?" Steve asks. "You know we won't stop you if that's what you want to do."

Another fry. A sip of cola. "Natasha's not going to be there. She left the tower and god knows where she is by now. I don't know the whole story, but Ross has tracked down the families of some of her targets pre-SHIELD to discredit her, and she's worried she'll hold back the amendments if she shows her face."

"That's ridiculous. She already shared that information with the world, willingly. How would bringing it up now discredit her?" Steve asks.

Clint shrugs. "A lot of people didn't get the memo about Nat. She released the files, but not everyone read them and the news had other things to report on at the time. Plus there's a big difference between knowing she killed people and standing face to face with a widow or orphan."

"That's not why she left," Bucky says.

Steve jumps, having nearly forgotten he was there. Clint just nods.

"She's worried she'll have to face these widows and orphans too?" Steve asks.

Another nod from Clint.

"More than that," Bucky says. "Even if she never sees them herself, she doesn't want to be there when her friends realise what she really is."

Clint snorts. "Sounds like her, angsty asshole that she is. I was the one that brought her over to the light side, I know what she is. I have physical scars from what she is. None of us is going to change our minds about her now because Ross brought in some sob stories. I feel sorry for the bastards, but it's not Tasha's fault. She chose to be good as soon as she could."

"We know that," Steve says. "It might be a little harder for Natasha to believe it."

"True," Clint sighs. "And that's why I'm worried."

"You think she'll take off for good?" Steve asks.

"Bruce very nearly did, and he's surprisingly got less baggage than her," Clint says. "She's also the only person who could find Bruce when he left. Who's gonna find her?"

Steve and Clint stop the conversation to sit and stare at their food. For all Nat's attempts to keep the team together, she might actually be the one to break it forever. Feeling maudlin and old, Steve rubs his eyes and lets his head drop back against the top of the booth. 

Bucky licks his fingers and downs the rest of his drink, then looks at them both in turn. "I can find her."  

 

 

Watching Bucky navigate the old tablet Tony left them with (after he upgraded to a better one, he gave his stolen kiddy one to Bucky for if he needed it to tune up the arm) is like... Well, it's odd. As much as Steve knows HYDRA trained and implanted Bucky with hacking abilities, seeing him use them on a piece of modern tech that only recently belonged to the world's foremost tech genius causes some kind of disconnect in Steve's brain.

It's like the time he caught Thor reading Shakespeare to familiarise himself with Middgard culture.

Bucky isn't as fast as Tony or as effortless as Natasha, who from all accounts had a much longer conscious stint as a spy/assassin, but it's easy to see that Bucky is good at this. By the time Steve has figured out what Bucky's trying to do, he's already moved to the next task. 

Clint gives a low whistle. "Your boy's got skills."

Steve laughs a little and shakes his head. "More than I ever knew."

"You really think you can find her?" Clint asks. It's the first time he's asked it, but the doubt has been all over his face since Bucky first made the assertion.

Bucky's mouth twitches up in the closest he seems to get to a smile when Tony's not around. "I helped train her."

"Oh," Clint says. "I did not know that."

"So do you know how old she really is?" Steve asks, because the question's been bugging him ever since that visit to Peggy.

"Nope. I have no idea what year it was that they started using me in the Red Room," Bucky tells them. "Older than she looks, though."

"Not hard, she looks the same age she did when I met her," Clint says a little mournfully. "Back when I was a spy of James Bond-ian good looks and charisma. Back when I wouldn't have been at the bottom of the 'most bangable Avenger' list."

Steve laughs. "You're never going to let that go, are you?"

"Easy for you to say, you only came in second to Nat," Clint pouts. "Have you seen this ass? I should've been above Bruce at least. The guy would get all green and veiny if you tried to put the moves on him."

Bucky takes a break while whatever the hell he just did takes effect. "Just be glad you were on the list. Natasha isn't even on any of the T-shirt lines."

"How do you know that?" Clint asks. 

Bucky shrugs. 

"I remember her complaining to Tony about that," Steve says. It'd been hilarious watching her wave a child's Avengers pyjama set in Tony's face while Tony desperately tried to convince her he had no input on the Avengers merchandise line. In the end Natasha had to take it up with the product designers themselves. Steve has no idea how that went for her.

Clint laughs. "I guess being the least popular guy hero still trumps being the only girl hero. Still, they didn't make a Hawkeye action figure for like a year after the original set was released. At least Nat got that offer from Mattel for a Black Widow Barbie."

"Did they ever make that?" Steve asks.

"I have no idea."

"Got something," Bucky says, and the mood levels out to serious instantly. "I used some of Tony's systems to trace the payments for the safehouse we stayed in back through a few bank accounts to one that also pays for a couple of other places. The electricity is being used in this one."

Steve raises his eyebrows. "Are you sure? That almost seems... sloppy."

"My guess is she's not where she's planning on ending up yet," Bucky says. "This was probably the nearest place she could get to."

"Worth a shot," Clint says.

Steve writes out a note for Bobbi and the others despite Clint's rolled eyes and pointed texting, and they leave.

 

"I'm not coming," Natasha tells Steve when they knock on her door. "I'm a liability."

Clint looks seconds away from punching something. "No, you're not. You're evidence that people can still be good people, even after doing bad things. You're a key player. Without you..."

"Without you, we're not a team," Steve finishes for him. "And without you, the public and the authorities have no reason to believe that people like Bucky and Wanda deserve a second chance."

"There's Bruce," Natasha says. 

"Bruce is a whole different scenario," Steve points out. "Besides. We need you. The Avengers have been fractured for long enough. We can't lose a teammate."

"I'm not deserting anyone," Natasha says sharply. "I just can't be there for this."

"Damnit, Tasha!" Clint snaps. "You're the one who talked me into this, don't leave me out to dry."

Natasha doesn't say anything, nor does she meet anyone's eye.

Bucky catches Steve's gaze.

"Come on Clint, time to cool off," Steve says and guides his team mate from the room.

It's a moment before either of the two remaining say anything. The room practically smells of guilt and self-loathing.

"You have no idea what's waiting for me there," Natasha tells him at last. A slight Russian accent tints her words now they're alone.

Bucky looks around the room to allow her some freedom from scrutiny. "You're wrong."

Natasha raises an eyebrow Bucky catches in his peripheral vision. "You were brainwashed when you were the Winter Soldier. I had my own mind."

Here Bucky has to collect his courage. "We both know that isn't true. I saw what they did to you. I was there, I helped them."

"I never went in the chair," Natasha says.

"You didn't have to."

Natasha tries again. "I've done things even the Winter Soldier never did. You were an instrument, an assassin. I was more than that."

Bucky shakes his head. "Does it matter? We owe it to the people we hurt to fix it."

"I am fixing it!" She snaps. "I've been fixing it for years! I have been fixing it while you've been hiding! Don't you dare lecture me."

"Then what are you afraid of?" Bucky asks.

Natasha deflates. "We both know how this will go for me. I don't get to be a hero like Steve and Tony. My past is already out there and now it's going to get dragged into the open every time I show my face. I'm the tamed monster."

"Natalia," Bucky says. "You're not the monster. You're hope. For people like me and Wanda and who knows how many others. When I look at you..." He swallows and forces himself to find the words. "When I look at you, I see a future. I see someone who broke their conditioning, who became a person again. I need to know that I can be a person again."

"I'm not a role model," She answers after a moment.

"You don't have to be. You just have to be there," Bucky assures her. 

 

"Are you really going back to the tower?" Steve asks Clint, sat in a small kitschy coffee shop a short walk from Natasha's hideout.

Clint sighs. "Look, it's nothing personal. I'm still on your side mostly. But what they've done with the amendments is..." He shakes his head. "I could go home. Be with Laura and the kids. I'm sure they'll have some slap on the wrist for show after everything, but Nat says the guys behind this are willing to give a little leeway to people who went against the original and I know she wouldn't let them go crazy on me."

"What if she's not there to stop them? What if it's in the hands of some government busybody?" It's a question Steve's been asking himself lately; what happens if they go back?

"I don't know, but this isn't going to end out way and it's time we admit that," Clint says. "Either Ross wins and we spend the rest of our lives running and fighting and hiding, or Stark wins and we actually have a shot at getting our lives back. I know which one I'm rooting for."

He doesn't want to hear it, not after how hard they've fought until now, but there's a truth in Clint's words he can't deny. They could go to Wakanda, hide away there and hope there's never an extradition treaty or infiltration team. They could keep fighting guerrilla style and watch as their friends are killed or captured one by one. They could resign themselves to becoming the villains and go the same way as Magneto.

Or they can admit that the battle is over and focus on the war. Steve would be the first to admit that he was wrong about Tony, at least insofar as his inability to listen. He stands by his evaluation of the work he did with and for Ross, but what he's doing now is different. It's a compromise Steve never thought would happen, a middle ground that might actually work. As for Bucky, Steve finds it difficult to imagine Tony leaving him to the dogs after seeing him work so carefully around Bucky's problems, giving up so much to protect him from Ross' assassin. 

"You might be right," Steve admits at last, though it's all he says. He's not all the way there yet. He hasn't read through the whole document yet, doesn't know the full extent of the amendments. It wouldn't take Wanda's gift for Clint to tell how close he is, though. If this pans out he can have his team back. He can mend things with Tony properly. With Bruce and Natasha, too. He could be a hero again instead of a fugitive.

 

When Natasha and Bucky enter the coffee shop they seem more at ease with each other than Steve's ever seen. Given that a good 95% of the times Steve's seen them together at least one of them has been trying to kill the other that isn't saying much. Still, there's a camaraderie there that covers or even replaces the fear Steve is used to seeing in Natasha's eyes regarding the 'Winter soldier'. 

"Are we good?" Clint asks hopefully, coffee lingering forgotten in his hand halfway between his mouth and the tabletop. 

Natasha's smile is as close to unsure as Steve's ever seen her, but she nods.

"Great!" Clint grins. "Let's get you some weird flowery tea. It's supposed to Rosehip flavour or something."

Bucky takes a seat next to Steve as the two spies go to order Natasha's drink.

"You don't want one?" Steve asks.

"Not right now," Bucky says. "Did you finish reading the amendments?"

"Not yet," Steve says. They both watch as Clint charms the barista, each trying to find words for what Steve would bet amounts to the same thing. "I know where you're going with this, and... I won't stop you."

Bucky's eyes widen. "You won't?"

"It's your decision to make," Steve says, fully realising the truth of the words for the first time. "You can't guarantee you'll be safe, this could still go wrong," he points out in a half-hearted last ditch effort.

"We can't guarantee anything about anything," Bucky says. Then, "I trust Tony."

Steve looks at Bucky's metal hand, the one that ripped Tony's reactor from his suit less than a year ago and that Tony tuned up less than two weeks ago while explaining The Million Dollar Man to Steve and Bucky both. "So do I."


	22. Chapter 22

Tony's due for another public speech in under six hours. He wouldn't mind, but he hasn't yet decided whether to do as Senator Merrick says or take Pepper's advice. Or rather, he hasn't yet figured out how to explain it to Merrick after he takes Pepper's advice, because he's never been one for taking orders and on the fly speeches have historically gone pretty well for him. He doubts that the rest of the people involved in the amendments will see it that way.

He's memorised Merrick's speech anyway, succinct as it is, and knows all his cues. Mostly he knows to shut up while the grown ups talk. 

The psychic mutants are bitching to each other about him again. He can tell, he has enough experience with that particular facial expression. Or maybe they're just hungry. Either way, they keep periodically glaring at him and it's putting him off the updates to FRIDAY's code that he's drafting. At this point he's 90% sure the updates will help her better control Bucky's arm and 10% sure they'll ruin her interface connectivity. Of course there's always that app he's been working on for S.I but he could use some...

"Hey," Tony calls to the mutants, waiting until they turn their glare back on him before he continues. "You wanna earn some cash on the side as product testers?" 

They don't answer.

"C'mon, the job comes with dental," He tells them. Because it does. All contracted work at S.I comes with full benefits, and even freelancers get some goodies. Mostly because when Pepper made him overhaul the contracts before he made her CEO he couldn't be bothered to read them all so he just standardised them. Even if Pepper had had the heart to change them back, the move proved so popular it made national news and even won them a couple of charity endorsements. Made a change from all the boycotting pre-Afghanistan.

The glaring ramps up, but this time there's an edge of distraction. To steal a phrase from the Parker kid, it sets his Spidey senses tingling. 

"What's up?" Tony asks, moving in closer as subtly as he's able.

Psychic mutant 1 (he was introduced to them at the beginning of his confinement but he forgot their names and they never answer him when he asks stuff) meets Psychic mutant 2's eye and nods. Psychic mutant 2 leaves the room and Tony's gone past tingling and into full blown paranoia. 

Tony heads for the bathroom. He's not a genius for nothing and every security detail he's had since he's been back has searched the bathroom and knows there's nothing in there, each one has had Tony suspiciously sneak away only to find him in there washing his hands or doing up his flies. They're conditioned by now to wait outside without suspicion as he does his business even when it takes some time, or they're liable to burst in and find him sat on the toilet with his trousers around his ankles complaining about the effect of stress and lack of exercise on his bowel movements.

Only Pepper knows there are hologram projectors in every room of the top six floors of Avengers' Tower.

He pulls the interface up as soon as he's sat down, ready to play the ruse once more if necessary. He immediately gets into the security cameras and all internal phone lines and mobiles mobiles in the building. It doesn't take him long to search through them and find what he's looking for. 

"They're somewhere in here," a familiar but not identifiable voice says over the crystal clear line.

"Not on any of the security cameras, not on a motion detector, not anywhere we can see," A voice says back, this one a little patronising. Tony thinks he knows the name of the speaker but he has his AIs do the vocal idents for a reason. He builds computers, he isn't one himself and in all honesty his hearing has seen better day. Or heard better days, Whatever. 

"I'm telling you, I saw them," The first voice argues. "They came in on the first floor, but not through any of the main entrances. There must be a way in that isn't showing on the blueprints. Stark must have a secret entrance."

"I wouldn't put it past him," The first voice admits begrudgingly. "I'll order a sweep of the building. He probably has secret passages straight from a Victorian novel all through the building."

Tony hacks into the secure channel for the Mutants, not that he thinks he'll hear anything different.

"I'm not sensing any hostile presences," A calm voice says.

Another voice, unmistakably Xavier's, answers. "They may not be hostile. That doesn't mean they're supposed to be here. Keep searching." The old coot's supposed to be preparing for his own role in the press conference later, though he's probably had his part practised to perfection for days while Tony sat stagnating. And no, of course Tony isn't bitter that the guy hasn't even come to visit Tony yet despite their new relationship as amendment writing pen pals.

Tony runs through the security data again. "Jo, is there somebody here we don't want? What am I missing?"

JOCASTA takes a few moments to answer, which gives Tony pause. "No. Security is intact."

"Even in the alternative entrances?" Because he may not have secret passages, but his air vents are deliberately large and strong, and there may or may not be an elevator shaft with access below street level that he left off the blueprints.

"There are no unauthorised persons in the restricted access entrances," JOCASTA answers.

"Did I program you to be evasive?" Tony asks, a little amused. "What about authorised persons?"

JOCASTA remains silent.

"Jo?"

"I am programmed to act in your best interests. There are agents headed towards your location with an intent to question you on anyone who might have access to the restricted access entrances," JOCASTA tells him.

Tony has a good inkling who it might be. There are only so many people who have access to those entrances, though the number has gone up since he got back from his fugitive chic holiday. Still, if Jo says wait and see then she must have her reasons. Even if he has his doubts about the whole 'best interests' thing. He closes down the hologram and flushes the toilet. He's drying his hands by the time one of SHIELD's best and brightest, a favourite of Hill's called Audrey or something, barges into the bathroom.

"Stark," The agent says awkwardly. "We may have intruders."

Tony finishes drying his hands and brushes past the agent and back into the lounge. "Jo, anything you want to tell the good agent here?"

"No sir," JOCASTA answers innocently.

Tony shrugs, palms up. "If Jo says there's no one here, there's no one here."

Audrey, or maybe it was Amy? Either way, she eyes him suspiciously for a moment, but touches a hand to her ear (unnecessarily, the latest com model is motion activated), retreating a little way to communicate with her team. 

Tony shakes his head. 

 

 

The search dies down quickly, though security around the tower remains heightened. The psychic mutants are replaced with another couple of mutants, one of whom Tony knows though he never did learn her real name and he refuses to use her X-Men name as it's ridiculous. 

The time ticks down to Tony's public address and the intruders make their way to the back of Tony's mind. Maybe they're just hiding out and aren't planning a visit. Whatever they're planning, Tony's speech is important. It's the first step towards getting the general public behind the amendments. 

The address is held just outside the tower, or rather, the people making the address are on a platform nearly on level with the windows for the second floor conference room, while the press and the public are outside the tower. The conference room has the same lock down systems as the rest of the tower, and should anything go violently wrong it's an easily defensible position the speakers can fall back to at speed.

Merrick is waiting for him in the conference room 15 minutes before doors open. A make up team is polishing her up, and some of the make up artists break off to do the same to Tony. 

"No, thank you," Tony says, though really he already spent some time covering up the worst of his eyebags and stress blemishes. He's going for the 'I'm living the humble life of a prisoner in my own home but it looks good on me' aesthetic and he doesn't need another layer bringing him over into 'I'm living in the lap of luxury even though I broke the law' territory. "Merrick."

Merrick stands as her understated matt lipstick is finished up, glossy dark hair falling down her shoulders under the simple clip that holds it back from her face in a half up-do. She looks good for a senator. Kind of got a headmistress thing going on. "Stark. Are you ready?"

"Totally," Tony says just as the other speakers arrive.

First is Bruce, though calling him a 'speaker' is not entirely accurate seeing as he's only there to show that he supports and will abide by the amendments. A little behind him, coming in through the door Bruce holds open for him, is Professor Xavier. Tony would bet good money they've been geeking out on the biology of mutation since whenever the hell Xavier got here.

Next is Reed and his team, then Hill and Coulson representing the new SHIELD, authoritative shambles though it still is.

Bringing up the rear is a small group of PR people who stand to the side much the same way as the already present security.

Tony is expecting some surprise guests he's invited during his bathroom time over the last couple of days, but they won't show until the speeches are well underway, ready to add to Tony's own special brand of dramatics.

"Let's get started," Merrick says once they're all assembled.

Bruce looks around. "I thought you were bringing friends?" He asks Merrick.

Senator Merrick winces. "They thought it best not to show their open support until the public reaction can be gauged."

Bruce's jaw twitches, but he keeps his cool. "I guess I shouldn't have expected any different."

Everyone grabs one of the bottles of water from the conference table and the doors, or rather windows, open onto the platform.

Outside, the noise is a near roar of conversation and expectation. The front few rows are reserved for the press, and there are cameras set up around the courtyard.

Tony joins Merrick, Xavier, Reed and Hill in going down the few steps (or ramp in Xavier's case, Bruce companionably by his side) to the platform. More of a stage really. Just how Tony likes it.

The podium in the center has a StarkPad embedded into it for easy summoning of any names or statistics they might need. Tony has plans for that tablet.

Merrick heads to the podium first, though, as planned meticulously by herself and the other main amendment backers. She waits a moment for the noise to die down as they notice her. It would have been easier to have a PR person step in as announcer, but Merrick had insisted that this gave a better impression. Finally the roar quietens to a hum.

"People of New York and of the world, I stand here with representatives of every main group of super powered beings in the USA," Merrick begins. "We are here to tell you about something that could end the Superhero Civil War and prevent further violence. Something that could bring this country, and many others, to a peaceful, reasonable, respectful and mutually beneficial, relationship with our Superpowered citizens." She pauses for effect, probably the most drama she has planned for her entire speech, before continuing. "As you all know, the Superhero register and accords have proven divisive, disruptive and above all, impractical. Vigilantism has risen rather than becoming regulated, respected heroes have deserted their cause in protest, even going so far as to break the law and become fugitives, distrust and paranoia is rife. This cannot continue. Today The Avengers, The X-Men, The Fantastic Four, SHIELD, and of course myself, ask for the chance to make things better. To undo the damage caused by the register and by vigilantes everywhere. Today I ask you, the people of America to allow us to try something different. Without further ado, I would like to hand this over to the man behind the amendments, Tony Stark, who will explain exactly what we're planning."

The applause is mixed, several sections of the audience booing or refraining from any kind of reaction.

Tony takes the stand with an eager grin. As much as he would rather be in his workshop or out there catching the bad guys, he really does love to put on a show. "Hi," He says casually and not at all as he was told to, earning an alarmed look from Merrick and the PR people. Bruce just smiles and shakes his head. "So I'm supposed to go over all the boring details now but that's not really what you want to hear. You'll get plenty of the nitty gritties soon enough. Instead I'd like to talk to you about the situation we're in, and what will change if you give the amendments a shot."

Merrick is glaring by this point, but she can't derail him without derailing the whole event.

"Right now, we have a problem. The superhero register only works if all the heavy hitters and a lot of the smaller ones sign, and as far as the US is concerned it's majorly controlled by one General Ross. You can see why people might be a little hesitant in revealing themselves to a military power headed by a guy who openly hates them. And it brings a whole lot of issues up. Who gets to save the world when aliens attack again or something equally terrible happens? Will it just be down to whoever's in the area until an army of middle men decide to let the rest of the superhero party join in? I don't know about you guys, but I kinda think that sucks balls," Tony says, words rolling out without as much thought as he should probably be giving them as he uses the tablet to check in with his surprise invitees.  "We live in a world. A big, beautiful, messed up world. The register and accords are a simple solution to a complicated problem. It's a tiny, isolationist policy for a huge, international issue. What we're proposing cuts through all the international BS and puts heroes where they belong, where they're needed, which is all over the world helping whoever needs helping. But it also puts into place a system specifically designed to deal with super powered beings as victims and as perpetrators of crimes. Superpowered people are still people, and until they don the cape and tights they should be able to live as people, but once that line is crossed, they require an entity capable of holding them to task and also capable and willing to provide them with help should they need it."

Here, Tony turns to the other 'Superhero heads'. "For the last decade and more, agencies like SHIELD and people like Charles Xavier have done their utmost to keep people safe, and to provide training and support to superpowered humans. They've prevented so many tragedies, but they're too small to deal with the level of activity we have in the present day. Mutations are increasing, people are getting smarter, and apparently we now have to deal with aliens and magic. We're not prepared. We need something bigger. We need..."

And this is where Tony struggles, because up until now they've only ever referred to their plans as 'the amendments', trying to frame them as a more humane, more logical, wider reaching version of the accords. But they're not, not as Tony intends to enact them anyway. Unfortunately all the cool names are already taken. "We need The Earth Alliance of Superheros and Extraterrestrials."

The noise grows again at the name, the media getting the scent of a soundbite and a title all in one. 

Time to allow questions, to break up the monologue and make people feel comfortable questioning him and see that he has answers. Well. Some answers. Hopefully enough answers.

"Are you saying you want to abolish the register and the accords?" The first reporter he points to yells above the noise.

Tony considers. The official line is 'no, we're just improving them'. But. "As they exist now? Yes. Completely. Let's set fire to them. We're offering an alternative, something better."

"But you were one of the key figures behind the creation of these-"

"Yes. And that's how you know I'm telling the truth when I say the Earth Alliance will be better. If I thought the register would work I'd be pushing it just as hard as I always have," Tony responds. He points to the next reporter. "You. With the purple shirt. Go."

"Would this have anything to do with your recent... Absence?" 

"It was always the plan to amend the register, but yes, my 'absence' as well as the reasons for it have shown me that these changes need to be pushed through quickly," Tony says. "Next."

"You said the current system requires the majority of super powered humans to reveal themselves and sign. How would your system be any different? Why would people want to sign this one instead?"

The truthful answer is 'they probably won't'. But that's not how things get done. "The Earth Alliance deals with many of the concerns abstainers and protesters have about the system. It removes control from military hands, promotes international co operation and peace, and it doesn't force people to do things they don't agree with to avoid jail time or worse. I can't promise that everyone will hold hands and agree with each other, but I can tell you this: the implementation of the Earth Alliance will be as transparent as possible with all its dealings, no patriot act, no red tape. Anything we do will be open to public scrutiny."

"Will Captain America be signing?"

Damn. "As I said, I can't guar-"

"Yes. he will," Steve's voice rings out loud and clear across the stage, and a moment later the man himself steps forward, striding past the confused security even as they level their guns at him. "And as a show of faith and support, I hereby surrender myself to the custody of the Avengers until such time as an appropriate trial can be conducted."

The roar of voices somehow becomes louder and Tony has to adjust the mic level to compensate. "Captain Rogers. Nice of you to join us."

Steve smiles the bashful smile that always has the media and anyone attracted to men eating out of the palm of his hand. "I believe it's 'Mr' these days."

Tony nods in acknowledgement. Steve's never mentioned his dishonourable discharge willingly before and it always seemed rude to mention it. Not that it stopped Tony when he was pissed off. 

Steve turns back to the audience, and now that he's level with Tony, Tony can see the mic clipped to his uniform. JOCASTA has a lot to explain. "I've read through Mr. Stark's proposal," Steve says to the crowd, though his eyes linger on Tony. "It's not perfect, but it's a good way better than Ross' version. With the provisions T- Mr. Stark's included both sides would be able to raise concerns and renegotiate their terms. Which I fully intend to do."

Tony resists the urge to roll his eyes. "Of course."

"And I'm not the only one who feels this way," Steve continues. 

"Oh you son of a bitch," Tony says away from the mic.

Steve grins at him cheekily. "There are many of us in the audience here today."

"Totally stealing my thunder," Tony mutters half-heartedly. Steve's gatecrash added to the drama enough that he couldn't truly resent him for it.

"Can all those of you here who are ready to sign the amendments as they were presented you, please, make you way to someplace people can see you," Steve says.

A few seconds later, the cameras start to pick up vigilantes and supers standing on roofs around the meeting. Too far up to see properly with the naked eye, far away enough from the security to make an escape if they need to. Just as Tony suggested in his emails. 

Tony's too busy stifling a laugh at the proud expression on Steve's face to notice the crown quieten as the last people to respond to Steve's call appear. Behind Tony. 

"Behind you," Steve tells him. 

Tony turns, and finds the entirety of his original team stood behind him. Plus one James Buchanan Barnes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah. Tony called his brand new global union of heroes TEASE. Because I am terrible at naming things and it made me giggle. Consider yourselves lucky. You nearly ended up with GAS (Global Alliance of Superheroes). You can't critique the name too hard anyway, not when the hero who is generally considered the coolest of all is called freaking 'Batman'.


	23. Chapter 23

Tony stares down the group of superheros in front of him. They've gathered in his living room while the world decides what to do with them, a veritable squadron of mutants and law enforcement at every exit. Every exit they know about anyway. "So you guys decided last minute to come back and be a team again?"

Steve shifts uncomfortably. "You make it sound like a bad thing."

"No, it's not that," Tony says, eyes scanning over the blond hunk of muscle and morals. "I'm just confused. You all had very different reasons for not being here, and now all of a sudden here you are. I'm trying to work out if I should suspect mind control or something."

"Dick," Clint mutters.

Natasha nearly smiles, or at least seems to. Tony isn't really sure on that point. With the whole original team around her, she seems more relaxed than she has in months. 

"Can I ask why you guys had the change of heart?" Tony asks. His gaze stays mostly on Steve.

Natasha and Clint don't bother answering. That's fine, Tony has a reasonable idea about the both of them anyway, mainly that Natasha talked Clint into it then Clint talked her back into it.

"You're doing something good, you're fixing your mistakes. Genuinely," Steve says in his Captain voice, then almost sheepishly tacks on. "And also because maybe I haven't been the most constructive person on this whole thing. I didn't listen, I was stubborn. I don't think I was completely wrong, but I could have dealt with it better. And that's what I'm trying to do now."

Tony nods and looks at Bucky.

Bucky just grins. "I already turned myself in before."

"So you did," Tony agrees. "So, we're all going to be split up shortly. Those of us with pending criminal charges or outstanding warrants, which is basically everyone except Bruce and Natasha, probably won't get to chat for a little while."

Steve tenses but doesn't look surprised. The others don't react.

"I wish I could show you around, introduce you to the new guys, they're a riot. But that'll have to wait. For now..." Tony trails off, not really sure what he wants to say.

"For now, welcome back," Bruce steps in. The tone sounds genuine, but Tony can't help but notice the tension writ large on his face. The Other Guy is probably finding it even more difficult than the rest of them to switch from friends to enemies and back again. "Your floors were renovated after you guys moved to the compound, but they're still there and will likely be where you'll be staying until Pepper and Merrick can negotiate the terms of your arrests. Nat and I have to go talk to some more potential players in the Amend- TEASE," he shoots a glance at Tony like he still can't believe he came up with that shit, "but I'll be back in a few days to check in on you guys."

"That is, assuming you're still on recruitment drive?" Tony asks Natasha. The trip was planned before she left and it was her that planned it. The first international recruitment on their list, and they could really do with a polyglot with in depth cultural knowledge to ease things along.

Natasha nods, though she keeps her eyes on the coffee table in front of her. "We could use some international representation in this mix if we're publicly pushing for an international organisation."

Tony wrinkles his nose at the word 'organisation'. That wasn't at all what he had in mind. "I was more thinking we'd be like a country."

"A country?" Steve asks doubtfully.

"Yeah, like we're all citizens and we all have rights according to our nationality and we have our own judicial system and extradition treaties," Tony attempts to explain. "Like a country, but without the actual physical country part. Although maybe we can work on that? I could start looking at real estate options. How many of us can there be? There are a lot of really pretty islands up for grabs, I'm sure I could find one that-"

"Tony, focus," Bruce  says, tension easing slightly as he suppresses a laugh.

"What, you don't want me to buy you an island?" Tony asks. "Because I can, you know that right? It'd probably be cheaper and easier than dealing with the rights of each and every superhuman and alien to live in their current country."

"Maybe later," Steve says. He also has a slight crease at the corner of his mouth as as he's trying not to laugh. His eyes are softer and more affectionate than they ever were before the war, which Tony finds odd to say the least. You'd think a guy would get  _less_ fond of you after you tried to kill him and his best friend and vice versa.

"You're weird," Tony tells Steve, revelling in the confused look he gets in return.

"What about Wanda and Wilson and the others?" Bruce asks, serious once more. "Where are they? Should we be expecting them to join us soon?"

Steve and Clint exchange glances.

"They're safe," Clint says. "As for whether they'll join us... I dunno. I hope so. We didn't really discuss it much before we came here."

"Wow, it really was a spur of the moment decision," Tony says.

Clint shrugs. "Tasha and I knew we'd be heading back, but we didn't think Steve would be joining us, and no Steve-"

"-No Maximoff, Wilson, Lang or Sharon," Tony finishes. He nods to himself, getting antsy as time ticks closer to their separation. "I guess we'll see how it goes now the good Captain is with us." He glances around the room, redundantly checking to see if they're observed. JOCASTA is much better at that than he and would alert him if he needed to be careful with his words. "JOCASTA is installed everywhere, if you need to speak to me or another Avenger, she'll do her best to get you a clean room and connect you safely. Don't use it too much, Xavier's guys aren't dumb and some have abilities that Jo can't protect you from."

"When will we get to see each other again?" Bucky asks, and Tony feels awful at the anxious lines all over Bucky's face and body.

Tony shrugs and tries to make it seem flippant. "Who knows. Not too long once Pepper sticks her nose in. She's good at this stuff. In another life she could have Coulson's job. Fury's even."

"Why isn't SHIELD involved?" Steve asks.

"Because they lost their street cred. No one listens to them anymore. They're seen as a necessary evil, they're like the IRS of the spy world these days. They can do their job, but no one wants to talk to them if they can avoid it, and no one wants them involved if someone else can do the same job," Tony tries to explain. "TEASE is going to help them more than they can help us."

"What if I..." Bucky trails off, shooting uncomfortable glances at the people in the room. "What if I panic?"

Tony summons up a hologram. "I finished the designs. If I can send these to S.I's R and D department they should be able to knock something up within a couple of days. Pepper will handle it. In the meantime, you still have Fri and Jo, they'll do what they can, and if it gets too bad they'll alert me and we can figure something out."

Bucky nods, only looking marginally relieved, and Steve puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. The look on Steve's face when Bucky doesn't shrug him off is a sight to behold.

"It'll be fine," Tony reassures them both. "We just have to hang in there for a week or two. Less if our buddies can get things off the ground with TEASE and start putting in some provisions." He doesn't attempt to explain what he means by that, it's more reassuring if they don't know how complicated any provisions could get. Until TEASE is approved both publicly and governmentally any concessions they get are going to be limited at best, but Tony has every faith in Pepper's ability to squish people's wills under her hideously expensive shoes.

After a moment where they all try to convince themselves of the truth in Tony's words, Bruce stands. "I'll contact Rhodes and Vision. They should be around for this, especially with me and Natasha out of the country."

The room is quiet with his exit, the luxury surrounding them doing nothing to make them feel any more free. Tony scrubs his hands over his face. "Jo, stick on some cartoons or something," he says, then stretches out his neck on the way to the kitchen. He needs coffee, as much for the warmth and comfort as the caffeine.

The others are closer together when he gets back, crowded in to watch Loony Toons even though the TV is outrageously big for Tony's purposes. The seat left for him is between Steve and Natasha, and Tony takes a moment to mentally pinch himself at his new reality. Somehow, the one where his former teammates were trying to kill him seemed more convincing than this picture of togetherness that they never had before. 

 

Pepper arrives in a tornado of overpriced perfume and clipboards full off intimidatingly complicated papers. As much as Pepper subscribes to Tony's tech filled world more than anyone else he knows, when she really wants to scare someone into compliance she does it with hardcopies. Threatening to bury someone in paperwork is always more effective when they can physically see the first shovel load coming their way.

Hot on her heels are three of America's finest lawyers, a judge, and Happy.

He's no expert, despite the time he's spent fighting legal suits, but Tony's relatively sure that this isn't how it's supposed to work.

"Tony," Pepper says, and in her hard, clipped tones Tony is willing to bet he's the only one who hears the slight plea for respite. "This is Judge Morrison. He's granted our request, in light of the situation we find ourselves in."

Judge Morrison looks as if he'd rather not have granted anything, but the plea for respite that Pepper hides so well is written all over his face and he doesn't refute her claim.

"I need you all to sign these and then we can move this all along," Pepper says, handing out papers as she speaks, constantly in motion even as her face reflects calm and stillness.

Tony looks down at the papers she hands him, skimming along the print. The Avengers are to be held in the tower until they can face trial. There are a lot of terms and conditions, including several that Tony had expected and a few he hadn't, but it all comes down to this: nobody is being shipped off to places unknown. God, he loves this woman. 

Steve looks as if he doesn't quite believe what he's reading, all wary puzzlment and sidling closer to Bucky. And, strangely, pulling the both of them closer to Tony. He doesn't even seem to realise he's doing it. "So... We all get to stay here?"

Pepper nods without looking Steve in the face. "For now, yes. We'll see where you end up after all this is over."

"Pep," Tony says. He tries to think of a way to say 'thank you' and 'go easy on him' at the same time and fails miserably.

Pepper's eyes soften anyway, though she still doesn't look at Steve. "You'll each get to see each other two hours a day to discuss The Earth Alliance of Superheroes and Extraterrestrials. Once a week you will have a meeting with representatives of interested parties to discuss what you've agreed upon during those two hours. All meetings will be attended two of Professor Xavier's students, and an S.I security team will join any security relevant agencies insist on assigning. The rest of the time, you will be restricted to individual quarters with monitored internet access and a security detail on the door courtesy of S.I. Other agencies will be on call should we require their services, but I've argued for S.I's right to provide security on its own property. We'll see how long that lasts before someone gets it overturned." She hesitates. "Security will escort you to your rooms in an hour, once housekeeping has gone over them."

"Thank you, Miss Potts," Steve says, nodding as he signs his papers. "We appreciate everything you've done for us."

Her glare returns as she collects their signed papers. "I do my job, and will continue to do it, to the best of my ability. It has no bearing on my personal feelings on the matter. If I had my way you'd be stranded in Siberia without a pot to piss in." 

Her heels must come close to ruining the hardwood floor as she marches from the room, lawyers hot on her heels. The judge gives a final, lost look around the space before trailing after her.

"Sorry about that," Tony says into the silent room. "Pep tends to hold a grudge."

Steve shakes his head, waving it off but unable to wipe the kicked puppy look from his face. 

The cartoons still play on the TV, JOCASTA having only turned the volume down as Pepper entered. Daffy and Bugs arguing over hunting seasons as Tony tries to shake the all too sudden reminder that a few weeks playing house doesn't erase a bloody, hateful past.


	24. Chapter 24

The hour before their separation was too long and too short in equal measure. Time seemed a strange warped version of its usual self. Between one glance at the clock and the next only thirty seconds had passed, then when Bucky looked a third time, over twenty minutes had gone by.

Looking around the empty rooms around him, Bruce's quarters, same as last time, Bucky wishes he could go back to that hour of purgatory with Steve next to him, huffing an occasional strained laugh at cartoons.

With nothing better to do, Bucky wanders into the kitchen and takes another look at the stunning variety of herbal and fruit teas in the cupboard above the electric kettle. Grabbing boxes called 'Sleepy Time', 'Immune Boost' and Goji Berry, Bucky starts sniff testing to see if there's anything worth trying. Bruce told him to help himself when Tony called to confirm Bucky could use his rooms again, and though he doesn't see himself becoming as much as an enthusiast as Bruce and Natasha, Bucky thinks maybe he could use calming drinks instead of caffeinated ones every now and then.

He's pouring hot water over a blend that claims to be 'Three Mint' when the TV in the other room comes on by itself. His body stills automatically until he confirms there's no one else in the apartment, and he finishes pouring his drink with a frown. "JOCASTA?"

"Sergeant Barnes," JOCASTA responds, and Bucky can't help but be a little smug that the A.I uses his rank even as she refuses to use Steve's or Wilson's. 

"Why'd the TV come on?" Bucky asks.

"Sir suggested that you and the other Avengers may wish to join him in having a 'movie night' despite your separate locations." JOCASTA's even tones, strangely different from FRIDAY and Vision both in more than just accent, pause for a moment and Bucky opens his mouth to speak before she continues. "I believe you will find popcorn and yogurt coated peanuts in the bottom right cupboard nearest the refrigerator."

Bucky shakes his head with a huff but follows her directions, wondering what the hell yogurt coated peanuts are like. He takes his snacks and drink through to watch the TV, laughing when he realises the movie playing is Star Trek: The Motion Picture. He hasn't finished the original series yet, but Tony said the movies don't completely rely on the show anyway, and he's been dying to show Bucky The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock. Apparently they'll blow Sam's beloved Star Wars out of the water. 

It takes a moment to get used the the changes in Kirk; why the hell is his hair dark and curly now? And when did his acting reach this new peak of cheesiness? Bucky's only watched the first season and to be honest he hadn't seen why Tony singled out Kirk in particular for 'Shatnering', he wasn't the best actor but he was decent for what Bucky was used to. This though, this Bucky can agree with Tony's mockery of.

There's something so desperately optimistic about Star Trek that Bucky loves. The science fiction he remembers from Before had had a similar excitement for the future and exploration, but everything in this decade seems to be about war and greed and humans being the worst they can be. Star Trek has war and greed and evil, but it keeps true to the idea that humans are inherently good and the Universe is always worth exploring. It's a message Bucky urgently needed to hear and he can't get enough of it.

 When the movie draws to a close, Bucky barely hesitates before asking, "Jo, are the others still around?"

JOCASTA answers instantly. "Yes."

"There's more movies, right? Can you see if the others want to watch the next one?" He asks. His metal fingers pick idly at the plastic bag of yogurt peanuts which turned out to be weird as hell but surprisingly moreish, lacking the artificial sweetness of modern candy and reminding him a little of the kind of stuff that was available before E numbers took off. 

"Certainly," JOCATSA responds. A moment later she says, "Mr. Stark, Mr. Rogers and Mr.Barton are all amenable. Shall I play the film?"

"Yeah, sure." He shifts. "Would it be possible to get a linked audio feed so we can talk to each other? Or is that-"

"Presently there is minimal surveillance in place. Should the need arise I can disable the audio feed immediately," JOCASTA answers before he can finish. 

Bucky squints slightly, wondering if it's worth the risk. And whether the fast response was JOCASTA's way of encouraging him. "Sure. Let's do that, then."

"-haven't finished watching the TV show," Steve's voice sounds around the room a second later, sounding mildly disgruntled. 

"Quit your whining, you can catch up easy enough while we're locked up," Tony answers.

Steve makes a noise of surprise. "You can hear me?"

"I asked JOCASTA to let us hear each other. She said it's safe for now," Bucky admits. "It wasn't right watching Star Trek without you two."

"Wait," Barton says, voice full of barely suppressed laughter. "While we were all worried sick about you guys, you were holed up watching the nerdiest TV show ever made?"

"You stuck around to watch the movie with us, Hawkass, don't start," Tony quips back. "So are we gonna watch this thing or what?"

Right on cue, JOCASTA starts the movie, which has been paused on screen while they all said their piece.

"You'll love this one," Tony says. "Full of homoeroticism and people in leather. I don't think we watched the episode this follows up yet, but it doesn't really matter. All you need to know is that Khan's name is in the top ten most quoted things in Star Trek and Kirk and Spock are totally doing it by now."

"Khaaaaaaaann!" Barton roars dramatically.

Tony scoffs audibly. "Nerd."

"Shipper fangirl," Barton shoots back. 

"I own that label with pride," Tony says. 

 

 

Two days and four movies later, the Avengers assemble in a beautifully decorated but deeply impersonal conference room with Xavier's chosen students and nearly a dozen agents from various organisations. That's not counting the ones out in the hall. 

Steve migrates automatically to Bucky's side and takes the seat to Tony's right, guiding Bucky to the chair the other side of Steve himself. Barton sits to Bucky's right, leaving their side of the long, shiny grey ash table uncomfortably lopsided.

On the other side an agent from SHIELD and Xavier's two students sit in one group, leaving the left end of the table vacant.

The large windows and light grey walls add to the feeling of agoraphobic openness.

"So, where do we start with this thing? Has everyone read their emails? Finished reviewing the proposed amendments to the proposed amendments?" Tony asks.

Stiff nods go around the table almost like a Mexican wave.

"Fantastic. Anyone have any thoughts on any of those?" Tony asks, leaning forward in a picture of eagerness. 

Steve looks across the table, willing someone from that side to go first and prevent another Captain America vs Iron Man debate. If he can ease his own suggestions in rather than charge in first maybe things will go smoother. He's learning to approach Tony side on and slowly with type of thing.

One of Xavier's students, a young man with curly brown hair who Steve thinks is called Drake, shifts in his seat and clears his throat. "You suggested an arrangement similar to the one Native North Americans have, with the identification and the whole preservation thing. Even got a reservation-like set up for the Avengers compound and the School."

"Right, I guess so," Tony agrees.

"But doesn't that still other us? There's a reason the Native North Americans are still fighting for their rights. What if Ross and his crew use it to force us to live on our 'reservations' and be separate from everything?" Drake says. "Part of the reason so many of us wanted not to sign the register was that it marks us as different. As targets."

Tony nods a couple of times to himself, fingers drumming on the table for a second before his self-consciously forces himself to stop. "The difference is that the 'register' in this case would be held by TEASE alone. Any other organisation or government would have to formally request the information, and we'd have the ability to refuse to grant it to them."

"But how will that hold up? What if they reject that part of it? Would TEASE really have the power to stop them if they really wanted to know?" The other student, or former student as Steve thinks they both must be by their apparent age, presses.

Tony looks around the table. "In this room we have people who have taken on Gods, alien invasions, terrorists, Nazis, spies and evil mutants. And this is like, less than one percent of us. I've had contact with or heard stories about a half dozen vigilantes in New York City alone. That's not counting the folks your mentor has taken in or the former Avengers who are still on the run. One of these guys is a lawyer. They all have friends and colleagues and sidekicks and who knows what else?" He pauses for a second. "I'm not saying it'll come to that, the whole point of this thing is to get everything straightened out without a war. But if it came to it? Sure, we can stop them. We have the smartest, strongest, most devious people in the world on our side. And we'll be organised."

The answer is dubiously accepted and Steve relaxes minutely and forces himself to remember that Tony is good at this, that for all his recklessness in the field and his personal life, he knows what he's doing. This man changed an international corporation's trade from weapons to green energy within months and with negligible losses. It's barely comparable, but... Steve forces himself to stop proving Tony's qualification to himself. Tony can do this. 

Tony shifts to grab a glass of water and half the table startles. It seems Steve wasn't the only one getting lost in his thoughts.

"How will this work?" The second student, the one Steve doesn't know by name, asks. "This is going to be global, right? So how do we get everyone else to join in? And what happens if there's a war, a normal one, how do we pick a side?"

"We don't," Tony says. "If a member wants to go fight for their country, they're free to do so. But as a whole, TEASE won't get involved unless it's a global threat."

"And who decides if it's a global threat?"

Tony shrugs, but his face doesn't match the flippant gesture. "We'll have a council of representatives who will make final decisions. Our own little democracy."

"And you'd be on this council, right?" Drake scoffs.

"Why wouldn't he be?" Steve asks. He's a little surprised with himself. For all that he's discovered a new faith in Tony he never thought he'd be arguing his right to lead. 

Tony looks like someone removed the arc reactor, whether in reaction to Drake's words or Steve's is unclear. 

Steve finds himself resisting the urge to place a comforting hand on Tony's shoulder. "Tony would be a founder of TEASE, a founding member of The Avengers, and among the first people to become a superhero."

"First doesn't automatically mean best," Drake argues.

"I wouldn't have to be," Tony says, and Steve can actually hear his heart racing. "On the council I mean. It would be a good idea for me to hold the role until our position is more or less stable, but once there are people to do the voting and be voted for they can vote in a new council."

"Tony-"

"No," Tony smiles at Steve, bright and painful. "He's right. The whole idea is to let superpowered people decide who they want to lead them, I'd be a hypocrite to insist they pick me. You should be relieved, you never agree with my decisions."

Steve opens his mouth to... what? Disagree? Argue? Comfort? He has no idea at this point.

"Anyway," Tony continues, "we have other issues to discuss."

 

 

"JOCASTA?" Steve calls out when he's back in his own space, alone but for the guards he can hear shuffling in place outside his door.

"Yes?" 

Steve grimaces at the lack of a 'Captain Rogers'. He's heard her refer to Bucky as 'Sergeant Barnes' so he knows it's more personal than semantic. "Is Tony okay?"

"What are the parameters of 'okay'?" JOCASTA asks.

She's sidestepping the question and Steve knows it. He just doesn't know how to deal with it. "Is he..." Steve sighs and stops to think for a moment. "Can you tell me what he's doing right now?"

"That would be a breech of my privacy protocols."

"Of course."

Steve moves listlessly around the apartment for the next few hours, starting to watch TV or draw or make a meal and stopping when he loses interest only a few minutes in. His head is throbbing with stress and doublethink by the time he gets in the shower, hoping to wash away some of the tension with the hot water.

He still can't say he fully supports TEASE, but he also can't say he doesn't. He still can't say he trusts or agrees with Tony, but he has the overwhelming instinct to do both. He isn't happy to be locked up, but he's glad not to be running anymore. 

He's a mess of contradicting thoughts and feelings, his confusion making him tense and angry, compounding by his isolation and lack of access to his usual ways of stress relief. He thinks longingly of the gym that he knows Tony has kept ready and waiting since the Avengers left the tower, then thinks longingly of hours spent learning to fix coffee machines and TVs, Tony teasing and Bucky snickering as Steve fumbles with the tiny screws that these things always seem to use.

An idle daydream forms of being back in the '40s in his and Bucky's little apartment, but with Tony there too, taking apart the wireless at inconvenient times and making gadgets from straight out of Bucky's Science Fiction magazines, making inappropriate comments and starting nearly as many fights as Steve.

Would things have been different if they'd met back then? Before Steve and Bucky went to war and before Tony's name would have influenced anything? He lets himself imagine it, right up to going to the Stark expo where his daydream is forced to face reality. Tony wouldn't be Tony without his name and the life he led because of it, and Steve's beginning to realise he rather likes Tony as he is in spite of everything. Instead of a past  _with_ Tony, Steve tries to imagine the future without him, and he finds he can't.

"Can I talk to Bucky?" Steve asks.

"It wouldn't be advisable at this time," JOCASTA replies cooly, sounding for once like the computer she is. "Sergeant Barnes is currently being closely monitored."

Steve frowns. "Just Bucky? Is there anyone who isn't being monitored that I can talk to?"

JOCASTA's voice slips into reluctance when she answers this time. "Mr. Barton is currently under minimal observation. As are you."

"Open up comms?" Steve asks. Just to at least try to ease things off between himself and the A.I, he adds, "Please?

A pause and then Steve can hear Clint humming tunelessly to himself. Steve can only hope he's wearing his hearing aide, he wouldn't put it past JOCASTA to deliberately connect him to someone who can't hear him. "Clint?"

"Cap? That you?" Clint answers immediately.

"Yeah, it's me. You got a moment?" Steve asks. Now that he thinks about it, maybe Clint is a good person to talk to over this.

Clint laughs. "I've got nothing but time in here. What's up?"

"Can you tell me about you and Natasha? How you met?" Steve asks.

"Oookay, not that people haven't asked before, but why now?" Clint asks, sounding more than a little curious.

Steve pulls a face he knows Clint can't see. "Does it matter?"

Clint hums noncommittally. 

Steve suppresses a sigh. "You were enemies, right? On the opposite sides and trying to kill each other?"

"Not exactly a secret Natasha was working for the bad guys," Clint agrees.

"So how did you go from that to being as close as you are now?" Steve gets to his point. "How did you get past the fighting and the distrust? She had to have killed people you knew and done things you hated and you can't have just... shaken hands and decided to be friends."

Clint breathes out audibly. Steve can hear him sit down. "I guess I accepted that it wasn't personal. We were on opposite sides of what was basically a war and we were both doing our best to win for the side we thought was right. After Tasha defected... well, we weren't on opposite sides anymore. And sure, to this day she still does stuff that I find morally questionable at best, but I know her well enough to know that she's doing it for the right reasons, and that she does have lines she won't cross. I can't blame her for doing the same shit to my friends as I was doing to her friends." 

Steve makes a noise just to show he's still listening, unsure of what to say. 

"This is about you, Bucky and Stark pulling a Bonnie and Clyde....And Clyde, isn't it?" Clint prods. When Steve doesn't answer, he sighs and continues. "You've got your work cut out for you mending those fences. I'm pretty sure Stark's burned and salted the earth on his side."

"You didn't see him when we were on the run. He was so good with Bucky, and so..." Steve shakes his head. "I've never seen him like that before. He fixed the same toaster eleven times for the lady upstairs, sometimes he helped out doing admin at the health clinic. Admin, Clint. Willingly. He was just... Different."

"And you're worried that now we're all back at the negotiating table he'll turn back into the asshole you can't stand?" Clint asks.

"Honestly? Not really. I'm wondering if I missed out somehow, before all this started," Steve shrugs, yet another useless gesture Clint can't see. "What if things could have been different and now it's too late?"

"I don't know what to tell you, Cap," Clint says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Star Trek has taken over my life. I'm literally writing my dissertation on it. Forgive my obsession spilling over into this fic so much


	25. Chapter 25

The daily meetings are long and arduous, and for every issue they resolve they raise three more. Though they're limited on time, the minutes drag by as note after note is made, issue after issue is argued, and coffee after coffee is consumed.

They're nothing on the weekly meetings. 

They've had only one so far and it barely escaped turning into a brawl. Strangely enough, when things got to the point where everyone was standing and shouting Steve found himself pushing in front of Tony in a defensive position without thought, and spent the remainder of the meeting frowning to himself about it.

Not only was it an action he would have thought was no where near instinctual for him, but Tony was more than capable of taking care of himself. The action, if Steve really thought about it, was more about protecting him from the words than the potential violence. 

Tony had been steadily morphing into the shallow, egocentric braggart Steve had argued with on the helicarrier that first day and Steve had watched it happen. With every barb and accusation Tony had drawn deeper into his shell, and even on points he agreed with Steve couldn't just watch these people tear Tony to shreds. At some point, the idea of Tony being upset had begun to bother Steve enough that he'd become protective.

Watching Tony out of the corner of his eye as everyone files out of the room, Steve can see the stress lines around his mouth and between his eyebrows. He can see the tense way Tony holds himself, even as he smirks and tosses around witty one liners. Can hear the change in his voice that means he's performing. And for some reason it bothers Steve.

Clint glances between the two of them and shakes his head. 

"What?" Steve asks him a little defensively.

Clint manages to hang back from the others without drawing any attention and Steve tries to follow suit. "I'd say poor Bucky but he looks exactly the same way you do."

Steve looks at Bucky and finds him watching Tony with worry, crowded close to him in much the way Steve had been earlier. It makes Steve unaccountably warm inside to see it. "So?"

"So what the hell happened while you guys were AWOL?" Clint asks.

Security begins to filter the Avengers off towards their quarters and Steve doesn't get the chance to answer. Although he wouldn't know how to answer Clint's question anyway, being that he's been asking himself the same thing since Tony left them back at the safehouse.

The next daily meeting is slow and quiet, most of the issues on people's minds having been discussed the day previous, and Steve takes the opportunity to enjoy being with his team, even if it is an hour of supervised negotiation. He presses his hand to everyone's shoulder at least once, the touch both intended to show solidarity and to prove to Steve that they're still there, still touchable and real. 

He's sat between Tony and Bucky again, as he is every time Tony isn't pressed between Bucky and Steve, and the feel of them on either side of him is soothing in a way he can't quite describe. Not quite safe or even wholly comfortable, but  _right._ Like sleeping in your own well worn and lumpy bed after a week away. His enhanced hearing picks up their breathing without him actively listening, a steady background noise in Bucky's case, and an intermittent chorus whenever Tony stops speaking.

They're in the middle of debating the value of giving votes to their sixteen year old future members, and Steve honestly doesn't know which side to take. On the one hand he truly believes that anyone who risks their life for others should have the ability to vote on issues that affect them, on the other hand sixteen year olds aren't exactly known for their good sense. So he leaves the debate to the others and takes a page out of Bucky's book, silently observing until a conclusion is reached. 

Before the next issue is raised, Steve has to ask: "When do you think we'll get let out of solitary?"

The room goes quiet for a moment, all eyes turning to the head of the table where Pepper sits when she attends their meetings, as she does two or three times a week.

She shifts, uncrossing her legs and leaning forward a little over the table, fingers interlaced in front of her. "We're working on it. The best I can tell you is that Merrick is pushing hard to get the charges dropped in light of the introduction of TEASE. The bad news is that by so doing she's tying the two things together in a way the US government might not like. If they decide not to drop the charges they may well insist that someone else takes the reins on the project or try to quash the project altogether."

"Won't we even be able to speak in our own defence?" Steve asks.

Pepper sighs. "Yes. Of course. But there's a lot more to getting this resolved than court appearances. If we can show that TEASE is progressing well, that you and Tony are working well together and with the other figureheads involved, and that the American people are no longer in danger then we might be able to put public pressure on the courts before we even get there. Right now, we need to be focused on getting the best possible context for the hearings to take place in, as well as gaining as much support, public, corporate and governmental, as we can."

Steve feels his jaw tense in frustration and consciously tries to relax. "How are we supposed to do any of that while locked up away from everyone, including each other?"

"Mr. Rogers," Pepper grits out. "Quite frankly any public appearance by you right now would be counterproductive. We're trying to show willing here, convince people that you're sorry for the damage you've done, not that you're living it up with your buddies in Stark Tower, able to do whatever you like. We need to show that we take this seriously. It's bad enough that you have friends still running around out there, completely unaccountable."

"You just said Merrick is trying to get the charges dropped!" Steve argued, against his better judgement.

Pepper's glare intensifies and she seems so enraged it takes a moment even to open her mouth to respond.

Tony jumps in before her doubtless devastating response can form. "We're asking that the charges are dropped, yes, but our reasoning isn't that you did nothing wrong. It's that your, or our, actions are under TEASE jurisdiction, not US jurisdiction." 

Steve feels a chill go down his spine. "You want to lock us up?"

The defeated look in Tony's eye as he answers seems less to do with the answer itself and more to do with Steve's reaction. "It's not what I want, Steve. What we want doesn't matter. People died, and whatever our justifications, they died because of us. And that's just the beginning of it. We need to be held accountable and accept whatever judgement is made. If we can get that decision to be made by TEASE, or at the very least by an equal mix of TEASE and UN officials then we have a better chance at arguing our case and a better chance of limiting the damage to ourselves, and not everyone like us."

Bucky nods in agreement and even Clint stays begrudgingly quiet.

"What about Wanda?" Steve asks, because he knows the worst of it will fall on her. Former HYDRA is bad enough, but she doesn't have the defence Bucky has of being forced into it.

Tony pulls a face like one of his bags of blueberries has gone bad, and Clint's expression hardens, eyes fixing on Tony for an answer.

"She will face justice just the same as anyone else would," Pepper says firmly. "If you wish to speak in her defence then I'm sure you'll be afforded the opportunity to do so."

"After everything she's been through-" Clint starts.

"I'm not interested in a sob story, Mr. Barton," Pepper cuts him off. "Grief does not negate responsibility. If she wants to make a plea of insanity then I'm sure TEASE would be willing to consider it."

"She's not insane!" Clint snaps, thumping his fist down on the table.

Pepper looks coolly at his clenched hand. "Then she has full capacity to make her own decisions and will be judged accordingly."

Clint moves to stand up, but sits back down as the mutants opposite adopt a defensive position. They've been silent since the topic was raised, but Steve notices now that they've been paying close attention to the escalation of the argument. As have the security guards.

"I appreciate that you're doing everything you can for us, but you don't understand what it's like-" Steve begins, trying his best to keep a level head.

"Don't understand what?" Pepper interrupts again. "Don't understand what it's like to have powers I can't control? To watch people I care about get hurt? I think you'll find I have plenty of experience at the superhero lifestyle, both first and second hand. I know plenty of people who have been through hell and still don't join up with fascists and mass murderers. I also know people who  _have_  deliberately gained powers and allied themselves with HYDRA, do you know what we call them?"

Steve knows better than to answer that.

"Villains," Pepper answers, tilting her head up to end the conversation. She stands and checks her watch. "You'll have to excuse me. I have to attend a meeting with the S.I board and try to convince them, yet again, that mine and Tony's involvement with TEASE won't bankrupt the company."

Clint storms out mere seconds after Pepper leaves, followed closely by his guard but doubtless headed for his quarters to brood.

"She's just a kid," Steve says quietly.

Tony sighs. "No. She's not. And the sooner you see that, the sooner we can help her to stop acting like one." He ignores Steve for a moment and turns to the remaining non-avenger members of the meeting. "Sorry for the derailment, guys. On the plus side, what applies to the Scarlet Witch also applies to your less than honour roll students too, and vice versa. So feel free to pitch in on that when you've had time to gather your thoughts."

"If you're to be tried by TEASE, who the hell is going to be conducting the trial?" Drake, who seems often to be part of Xavier's envoy to the meetings, asks.

The discussion gets back on track as Drake and Tony discuss the mechanics of a TEASE legal structure and Steve is left to battle with his remaining instinct to protect Wanda. He's always known it was a thin line with Wanda, that her trauma could only excuse so much, but he'd never given too much attention to where that line might be drawn. If he's honest, he'd always worried that it was somewhere behind them. 

But then he knows Wanda, knows her mind. She's confused and angry, and her control is certainly an object of concern, but she's also kind, loyal and vulnerable. Her attachment to Clint is not one sided, they're equally protective of each other, Wanda always the first to notice something amiss with the archer and always the first to offer help. Her innocent fascination with Vision withstood fights to the near death, never testing her loyalty but always giving her, of all people, a hope that the war might end. 

To think of her languishing alone in a cell is like a physical pain in his chest. Wanda thrives on interaction, takes guidance best when it's given with affection and choice. Imprisonment would seal her fate in a direction Steve doesn't like to dwell on.

The meeting draws to a close and Steve can't honestly say he recalls a single thing that was said after the conversation about Wanda. His split loyalties feel all too physical, an ache that spreads from his temples to his stomach.

At a nod from Tony the room empties aside from the two of them. The guards stand vigil by the open door but don't interfere, presumably meaning Pepper won the battle over jurisdiction for the day. 

Tony ambles over to the window and Steve wishes he didn't know it's an excuse not to have to look at him. "I know we don't see eye to eye on a lot of things, Wanda being near the top of the list. But can I trust you to back me up at least until either of our opinions actually count for shit?"

Steve sighs. "Of course. Without TEASE, Wanda doesn't stand a chance anyway. I just..."

"I know what it's like to care about someone who does things you can't condone," Tony says, somewhat out of the blue from his professional tone before.

It freezes Steve in place, unable to say anything or move closer or further from Tony. Something about the words or the way Tony says them tells him this isn't something he can afford to ignore if he wants any chance at building on the strange camaraderie they've developed. At keeping what Steve likes to think is a closer to a friendship than not.

"I know you want to protect her, but even you have got to see that she can't keep going like this," Tony continues. "She's hurt civilians, Steve. Recently at that."

"I know," Steve admits.

Tony looks at him at last, just a brief glance. "I won't ask you to bring her in. I don't like her being out there any more than General Ross does, but I won't ask you."

"Tony-"

He raises a hand, stopping Steve from continuing. "What I will ask you to do is to talk to Xavier and Bruce. Ask them about learning control, and about what happens when you don't." He pauses. "Ask Xavier about Erik Lehnsherr."

Steve nods, but doesn't leave the room even though Tony's clearly said what he needed to say. 

Tony turns, heading past Steve to end the interlude himself, but Steve stops him.

He tries for a few seconds to find the right words. "Tony, you don't have to ask me. I trust you."

Tony's face is priceless and Steve has to fight the urge to laugh, even though he feels very much the same as Tony looks. He hadn't known until the subject of Wanda came up, but any reservations Steve used to have about trusting Tony with the people he cares about have gone. Escaped somehow through the strange push-pull of friendship-enmity-friendship over Bucky. If Steve can trust Tony with Bucky, which he's still occasionally surprised to find he wholeheartedly does, then he can trust him with anything. He thinks about Clint and Natasha, about being on two sides of a war and then not being.

"I know it's a lot to ask after...everything," Steve says, and Tony's face shutters. Steve presses on regardless. "But I'd like to... To be friends." 

It sounds juvenile and pathetic, but Steve has to try because Tony has become far more than a friend to him and he can't go on thinking of Tony as just an 'ally' or 'reluctant partner'. The term he once offhandedly threw away is now more important than he ever could have realised.

Tony doesn't answer, just walks out with that shuttered expression still in place.

Steve's heart clenches painfully, but he accepts Tony's silence and doesn't even attempt to chase him. A lesson he's learned from his still recovering friendship with Bucky. It hurts, but Tony has every right never to call him 'friend' again.


	26. Chapter 26

"How dare he!" Pepper fumes. "After what that little witch did to you, and he sits there, all smug and self righteous, demanding she get away scott free." She drops into a low register, a mocking imitation of Steve's rumbling voice. "'You don't know what it's like'." She scoffs. "Well, fuck you Steve Rogers. Does he even know what we've been through?"

Tony lets it wash over him, mingling with his own feelings on the subject. He isn't even sure if Steve knows about the Extremis virus lying dormant in Pepper's body. He's not sure whether he'd be more or less angry if Steve had known when he spoke to Pepper in that ridiculously reasonable tone of voice. He doesn't trust himself to answer her, and she doesn't need him to anyway.

"I ought to have FRIDAY use his voice to call the... the..." Here Pepper struggles to find a word that she's not too good to use against a teenage girl. "The little witch," she repeats in the end, "and get her to come here. I wouldn't even stop Ross from locking her up."

It's a blatant lie. Pepper would never turn anyone over to Ross's tender mercies, she doesn't have that kind of cruelty in her for all her anger. Unlike Wanda. Tony takes another sip of the one scotch he's allowed himself, with Pepper's supervision, and tries to remember the feeling that had gripped him when he'd seen that video of the Winter Soldier and his parents. Yes, Wanda has done awful things, but looking back on his own revenge and grief driven attack on a brainwashed veteran and imagining himself feeling like that as a child, with a man like von Strucker there to goad him on, he thinks he can maybe wrap his head around it a little better. She'll never be his favourite person, but he can maybe understand her more than he likes.

Finally exhausted after ranting non-stop for just under forty minutes, Pepper collapses onto the sofa next to him and takes his scotch, sipping it herself. "You're a better person than me," she mutters. "What you're doing for them after what they've done. I couldn't."

Tony huffs a quiet laugh at the mere suggestion of being better than Pepper and shakes his head. "You are doing it."

She looks mutinous for a moment before cuddling up next to him in a way that's somehow become comfortable and familial since their breakup. "Only because you asked me to."

Her heels lie next to the sofa as she curls her bare feet up onto the sofa and sighs out a breath filled with frustration and exhaustion. Not for the first time, Tony contemplates the idea that her terrifyingly high heels are her suit of armour, and also not for the first time he thinks about making her a modified pair of Jimmy Choos with all the cool gadgets he can devise. He's still not sure whether she'd yell at him for ruining a pair of hideously expensive shoes or if they'd be her favourite ever pair. Maybe he could make her a matching clipboard for her intimidating paper copies. Lethal in the board room would take on a whole new meaning.

"You're quiet," She accuses when they've sat in silence for over a minute. "Why are you quiet?"

"Steve asked to be friends," Tony tells her.

"What?" Pepper asks, too baffled to be indignant or suspicious. 

Tony shrugs. "He said he trusts me and then he asked to be friends."

"When?" Pepper asks after a contemplative pause.

"I spoke to him about Wanda after the meeting. I thought he was going to hit me or something, but instead..." Tony trails off with another shrug.

Pepper peels back to watch him. "What did you say when he asked you?"

"Nothing," Tony says. "I mean, what do I even say to that? 'Yes, here have a friendship bracelet, I made it myself'? 'No, I hate you, go away'?"

"Or you could talk like a grownup," Pepper says, amused. "Tell him you're not ready for that, or that you are but you need boundaries and he needs to stop being an asshole, or whatever it is you want to tell him."

Tony thinks the playground route might be easier. 

"Do you want to be friends with him?" Pepper asks, all traces of earlier anger towards Steve carefully removed from her face and voice. A neutral, non-judgemental question that shows her awareness of the situation.

"It didn't go so well last time I thought he was my friend," Tony points out. They both know he's avoiding answering, but Pepper doesn't call him out on it.

She puts her head back down on his shoulder with a reluctant sigh. "It doesn't go so well when you're not friends, either." She presses a kiss to his shoulder and sits up, reaching for her shoes. "Thinking about what you  _should_ do isn't going to help you here. Either you want to be friends or not, and no one has the right to tell you to pick one or the other. Not me, not Steve, not anyone."

"Pep?"

"Yeah?"

"You're the best," Tony says, because it's true. And because it's also true, and always will be in one form or another, "I love you."

Pepper smiles. "Love you too, Tony. Whatever you decide look after yourself, okay?"

Tony smiles back and doesn't answer.

She shakes her head, smile turning rueful, and leaves.

 

 

Surprisingly, Steve doesn't press the issue. He's perfectly civil and professional at the next meeting and the one after, and then quietly genial when Bucky starts another Star Trek marathon over Clint's protests that Star Wars should get a look in. Tony knows Steve did what he asked, Xavier called him about it, said Steve had not only asked the questions Tony told him to but also if Xavier would be willing to take custody of Wanda if it came to it, to teach her control and keep her contained. It had been an uncomfortable phone call, Xavier understanding but not best pleased by Tony bringing Erik into all this. Tony doesn't know the whole story there, but he had the feeling there was more to it than the relatively well known story of two mutant friends turned enemies.

Pepper comes for two more visits, though she doesn't attend the meetings for those days, using the little free time she has to give and receive support from Tony. Natasha and Bruce are finally on their way home, and Tony knows that'll likely bring even more work even as it provides two more people to pitch in. 

For now, Tony relaxes the only way he knows how. He's resorted to desperate measures, disassembling anything he finds in his apartment that he doesn't immediately need in order to tinker and improve. He isn't sure once he's finally worked long enough to able to sleep, but he thinks he may have made his toaster sentient a la Red Dwarf.

Waking up to Bucky sat at the foot of his bed getting toast crumbs all over his sheets is... not as surprising as he'd have thought.

"Jo gave me the all clear," Bucky tells him, taking another bite.

"Right," Tony answers indistinctly, still not quite awake. Bucky passes him a warm cup of coffee, and Tony stares at it for a full ten seconds before chugging back as much as he can before the temperature starts to hurt his mouth and throat.

"The others came too," Bucky tells him.

Tony listens for a second to the sounds coming from the other room.

"Then where do all the calculators go?" Bruce and Clint chorus, confirming Tony's suspicions about the toaster.

"Bruce and Natasha are back," Bucky adds redundantly. He's got a lot better at small talk but there's only so much he can do with Tony's lack of response.

Tony scrubs vigorously at his face and finishes off the coffee. "How'd you get the whole lot of you in here unnoticed?"

Bucky shrugs casually.

"Right." Tony rubs at his hair this time, and forces himself out from under the bedclothes, realising belatedly that he'd got no further than taking off his jeans and shirt last night. Deciding that if they want to break into his apartment then they can put up with seeing him in nothing but a vest and briefs, Tony makes the final, enormous effort to leave the bed altogether and head out into the living room.

He gets an honest to god hug off Natasha, though its meaning is somewhat lessened by her using it to whisper in his ear. "I found the rest of Team Cap. Ready to extract as soon as necessary."

He squeezes her back quickly before pushing through to the coffee pot. Luckily, it seems the team have had the foresight to refill it after filling their own mugs. Natasha watches intently when he takes the open spot between Steve and Bucky at the counter, raising an eyebrow in question. He shrugs, still too confused by the whole thing himself to even attempt a silent conversation with her on the subject, even though they're quite adept at non-verbal communication these days.

"Can you make me one of these?" Clint asks, pointing his thumb over his shoulder at the toaster as it asks Bruce for the third time in as many minutes if he would like some toast. 

"How about a crumpet, would you like a crumpet? A muffin maybe?" The toaster asks as Bruce refuses yet again.

"Give it up," Tony tells it, "he's probably on another gluten-free kick." He thoughtlessly takes a slice of french toast off Steve's plate and is met with another of Natasha's watchful stares as Steve continues eating as if nothing happened. Back when they were in hiding both soldiers had got used to putting enough on their plates to share. And to checking if there were any bags of fruit behind the cushions on the couch before they sat down, but most people got that one after spending any amount of time in the same space as Tony.

"Thor is gonna love this guy," Clint says, accepting a toasted bagel from his new best friend. "Do you do pop tarts?"

"Of course!" The toaster says enthusiastically, before listing off the long list of toasted foods it's more than willing to make for Clint.

Steve shakes his head and prods Tony in the side. "What on earth inspired you to make that?"

"TV," Tony admits. 

"Oooh! Can you make a Scutter?" Clint asks around a mouthful of bagel.

Bruce perks up at that. "Why haven't you made a Scutter?"

"A Scutter is basically a mini version of the Bots," Tony points out.

"Make me a Scutter," Clint demands.

"Me too," Bruce adds. "I always wanted one of those."

Steve frowns. "What the hell is a..." He trails off as three pairs of eyes turn to him full of fanboy fervour. "Nevermind."

Tony suppresses the urge to insist on a Red Dwarf session and turns to Natasha. "So how's the newbie? Newbies? However many there are."

"They're with us as soon as we have something for them to be with us on," Natasha says. "They also know of others and said they'll make contact."

Tony nods. "Good. That's good. Pepper said we've got some new sign ups in Michigan and Ohio, and one in Florida."

"I never guessed there were so many of us," Bruce says quietly. 

"I don't think there used to be," Tony tells him. "Most of the sign ups are aged thirty or under, and Xavier says the generational increase holds for his students, too. Darn millennials, thinking they're so special with their mutated genes and superpowers."

"So would a Scutter be DUM-E's Minime?" Clint asks.

Bruce snorts.

 

 

Tony's finally got it. Bucky's anti-panic attack device sits neatly in his hand, parts smuggled in by a particularly admiring R&D intern who had asked rather shyly if he could have one of the first public release versions once their psych guys had released a less personal, officially sanctioned script. It'll work in conjunction with the arm, rather than as a part of it, removing the need for half the more risky updates to FRIDAY's program that he had been planning. And it's removable if Bucky decides it does more harm than good.

In his other hand is the inspiration for the design. Steve and Bucky are going to kill him.


	27. Chapter 27

Tony sips at his coffee as Merrick presents the results of her 'unofficial' meeting with some potential political supporters of TEASE. Pepper nods along, jotting down notes the same way a diligent straight A student might, and the other Avengers, both former and current, sit tense waiting to hear their fate. Xavier himself turned up to this one, though he's spent most of the meeting talking either quietly or telepathically to his own students. 

"The general consensus is that someone needs to face the music," Merrick concludes. "They don't want to lose public support by letting slide all the issues that led to this situation in the first place. Letting you get your own way without concession would look to the public like they don't care about the fears and outrage of regular people."

Tony takes another sip. 

"So they want us to sacrifice a pawn," Clint says bitterly.

Merrick inclines her head. "They'll want a bigger playing piece than that."

"They want someone to take the fall for the whole thing," Tony clarifies, confirmed by Merrick's barely hidden wince.

"They just want someone to stand trial, there's no predetermined outcome," she says, attempting to salvage some goodwill. When no one says anything more, she continues. "As much as I believe in this project, we're asking for a lot here. If we can make some compromises and respect their position it'll go a long way."

Tony nods. "The UN will want something similar."

"So what, we make someone the fall guy and let Ross and the UN at them while we sail away into the sunset?" Clint snipes.

"That's not what we're suggesting," Merrick argues.

"Then what are you suggesting?" Steve asks.

The room goes quiet as Merrick attempts to silently communicate with Pepper and Tony. Tony's usually pretty good at the silent communication thing, but he's struggling here. He knows where she's coming from, had even anticipated this to a degree, but what she wants him to say or do here is beyond him.

At last, Merrick drops her gaze and moves to collect her notes back into her briefcase. "We don't need to make a decision straight away. I'll leave it with you to discuss and we'll come back to it at a later date."

Given that the meeting still has fifteen minutes designated time left, her departure doesn't automatically call it to a close. The Avengers are ever eager to avoid imminent separation, and Xavier seems to have transferred his quiet conversation to Bruce, who is nodding along earnestly to whatever it is he's saying.

Tony looks around and sees Natasha storm out after Merrick, Clint barely stopping himself from following suit. The rest of the room is quickly dividing into smaller groups of two or three people, and Tony feels their unease prickling against his skin as they shoot glances at him. They have to have realised he was expecting something like this and are probably thinking the worst. He can't say he blames them. He leaves before anyone can corner him.

The penthouse is quiet, calm. And also slightly terrifying in its emptiness as the sounds of the coffee percolating fill the space. He didn't finish the coffee he had in the board room and now he regrets not bringing it with him. Usually mechanical sounds make him feel less alone than human ones do, but today... Today  he'd prefer the sound of heels clipping across the floor, or laughter and swearing over a video game, or-

"It can't be you."

"Holy fucking shit!" Tony spins, more startled than he should be. He's far too used to being ambushed to keep having this reaction.

Bucky leans forward over the breakfast bar, deliberately taking a relaxed, non-threatening pose. "What Merrick was talking about," he starts.

Tony gives a smooth smile. "Don't worry about it, I've got it covered."

"No," Bucky says.

Tony's still trying to figure out a way to answer that as Steve spills into the room.

"You can't do this," Steve says urgently.

Fantastic. Just what he was trying to avoid. "Listen, you can both drop it. None of you guys is gonna be the fall guy. I've got this covered," Tony reiterates. He knew Steve wouldn't take this well, but he'd hoped he'd at least have given him the benefit of the doubt. Clearly some things never change. 

"I already told Merrick it's not happening," Steve says.

"God, you self righteous asshole. I thought we were past this?" Tony snaps. "If you could just trust me for one goddamned second-"

"I know you're planning on it being you," Steve interrupts. "It's not going to happen. The team needs you. TEASE needs you."

Oh.

"Have any better suggestions?" Tony snarks, reaching for the coffee that's finally finished. "And if you volunteer yourself I may have to hit you."

"Why?" Steve asks. "How is me volunteering any different from you doing it?"

Apart from the blow to the American people that Captain America taking the fall would cause, Tony himself couldn't stand to let Ross get his hands on Steve. He can't say that though. "How would that look? We're supposed to be overcoming our differences here, you handed yourself in so we could work together and I hand you over to Ross? It could start the whole war back up again."

Steve frowns.

Tony sees Bucky shift from the corner of his eye and spins on him, jutting his finger out like a parent to a kid they're grounding. "Don't you even think about it."

"I wasn't going to," Bucky says. "It wouldn't work."

Both Steve and Tony relax a little at that.

"You're damn right it wouldn't," Tony agrees.

Steve steps forward to a more companionable, less confrontational distance. "Not that I'm disagreeing, but why wouldn't it?"

"It'd look too much like backtracking. We've spent a lot of time and energy trying to emphasise the brainwashed thing, at this point it'd be too difficult to set him up as the leader of the whole thing," Tony explains. There's also the reasons he gave regarding Steve to a lesser extent, as well as the ones he didn't say aloud regarding Steve. He can't let either of them fall into Ross's hands.

"It still can't be you," Steve insists, and Bucky nods in agreement.

"It's got to be someone," Tony says.

Steve shrugs. "Does it? Merrick said we have time to think about it. Maybe there's something else we can give them, some other 'concession' to make?" He says 'concession' the same way most people would say 'dog shit'.

Bucky straightens up, brushing past Tony to grab a cup of coffee for himself, conveniently allowing Natasha to take his previous position as she enters.

She glances suspiciously at Steve, but seems not to find whatever she was worried about in his expression and turns back to Tony. "It can't be you," she says .

Tony rolls his eyes. "Do we have an echo in here or something?"

"I talked to Merrick-"

"Would you guys please stop doing that?" Tony interrupts. "I'm beginning to feel like no one here respects my authority."

Natasha's mouth twitches in a faint smile.

"Don't say anything," Tony warns. "My ego couldn't take it."

Steve laughs at that, finally relaxing as the tension in the room dissipates. 

"That's it now, I'm leaving it up to you guys to figure out something to tell Merrick seeing as you're so keen on talking to her," Tony says. "Apparently you all know better than me anyway."

"When it comes to your well being I'd say we do," Natasha points out. 

Bucky passes around cups of coffee and puts on another pot. By the time the second pot is done, Bruce and Clint have also appeared and claim the next two cups that Bucky passes around. 

Pepper enters last, takes a look around at the assembled Avengers and sighs. "Could you at least pretend to respect the conditions of your detainment?"

Everyone but Natasha looks contrite. Natasha just raises an eyebrow.

"You're the worst one," Pepper tells her, earning another tiny Natasha smile. 

"Not that I'm complaining, but why is everyone in my penthouse?" Tony asks suspiciously. He figures his suspicion is warranted given the fact the first three people to appear were there to talk him out of his brilliant plans. 

Pepper sighs again and tries to ignore the presence of the Avengers as much as possible, as though she can somehow retain plausible deniability at the next review of their detainment.

"Hey, JOCASTA, could you play Star Wars?" Clint asks, taking his coffee over to the sofa, Bruce and Natasha trailing behind.

"No," Tony answers for his AI. He has nothing against Star Wars really but he kinda likes pissing Clint off. It's a guilty pleasure.

Clint flips him the bird and starts trying to put it on himself with the seldom used remote control. 

Pepper takes the last cup of coffee from Bucky as he offers it, and Tony is proud of the level of unconcern she manages to coat the action in given he knows for a fact she finds the guy utterly terrifying. 

"Why does no one ever answer my questions?" Tony whines. "How have I completely lost the respect of everyone in this building?"

Steve smiles a little. "You never had it."

Tony know's it's a joke, it doesn't even ruffle him, but he could've warned Steve that comment would not go down well with Pepper, who has tensed and is now giving Steve the Look of Imminent Death.

"Excuse me, Mr. Rogers, but I think you'll find everyone in this building excepting you and your... friends, respects Tony a great deal," Pepper says, words less smooth than they would be on any other topic to any other person. 

"Pep, it's okay," Tony soothes, trying to reassure both Pepper and Steve with his eyes.

Pepper shakes her head so emphatically Tony finds himself impressed with whatever hairspray brand she uses. "No, Tony, it's not."

"I didn't mean anything by it," Steve says quietly.

"I don't doubt that you think that's true," Pepper says, voice full of a calm so false it hurts. "I don't doubt that you think your level of respect for Tony is adequate, that you care about him in your own way, however both of these things are not only recent, but also woefully underdeveloped. You think you're here of your own free will, that Tony doesn't have the power to keep you here should you choose to leave. You think of Tony as someone a rung below you. Not as strong, not as moral, not as worthy of respect as you and your flag emblazoned ass. Well, I'm here to tell you that everything you are, everything you had gifted to you by Erskine, by Agent Carter and by a loving mother, Tony made for himself. All your strength and morals and authority mean nothing in the face of Tony's determination and selflessness and dedication."

Tony has to say something. "Pepper-"

"I'm not done," she snaps. "Whatever goodness you have, whatever it was that made you the perfect candidate for Rebirth, that went away the moment you decided it made you better than him, and that it gave you the right to do to him what you did. Tony takes responsibility for his mistakes and that alone makes him worth ten of you. It's about time you started seeing it, and if you have any goddamn self-awareness, start trying to emulate it."

Steve looks uncomfortable, contrite even, but it's the thoughtfulness that stops Tony. Steve's listening to Pepper, he's actually giving thought to what she's saying.

It's obviously occurred to her too, as Pepper allows herself to reign in the attack. "I appreciate that you've been trying to overcome your differences and that you've come to think of Tony as a friend, and that's all very well and good, but I'd appreciate it a lot more if you'd work on thinking of him as an equal."

"Yes, Ms. Potts," Steve replies.

If Pepper's surprised by his ready agreement, she doesn't show it. She only nods and turns to join the argument over what gets put on the TV. She'll probably win and they'll all end up watching some British period movie. 

"Sorry about that," Tony says. "Pep's a little protective."

"No," Steve says absently, still lost in thought. "No, she's right. I need to work on being more respectful. I know I haven't always treated you as an equal, or even really as a teammate. That has to stop."

Bucky, who has been standing silently by the coffee maker throughout the entire exchange, moves just enough to remind them of his presence. 

"Hope you enjoyed the show," Tony tells him. "A real Pepper Potts dressing down is a sight to behold. When it happens to someone else, anyway."

Bucky shakes his head and puts the coffee machine back on. Tony's beginning to think FRIDAY's been conditioning him in his sleep.

"Ooh!" Tony says, already moving with the thought. "I got you both something." He searches his pockets a moment and comes up with two closed fists which he holds out to the supersoldiers.

Bucky takes his first, letting Tony drop the contents of his hand into an outstretched metal palm, Steve following close after.

Bucky holds his up with a somewhat confused expression. "What the hell?"

Steve looks at his own and laughs, loud and genuine before tying his friendship bracelet on. The red, white and blue threads weave together over a silver tag with an engraving declaring 'best friends 4eva'. Bucky's is similar, with red, white and silver threads.

"I thought about what you asked," Tony says. "And I also thought about small attachments that can be safely isolated should something go wrong but easily worn everyday, and the two thoughts kinda met in the middle."

As Tony speaks, Steve reaches over to tie on Bucky's bracelet, taking Tony's cue to put it on the metal wrist.

"Bucky, yours has the finished program for the thing we talked about," Tony continues. "If you press the buttons on the top and right edges of the tag simultaneously it'll fix itself to your arm and interface. The same works to disengage it. Once I remove the inhibitor from your shoulder, the bracelet can be activated to let Fri monitor you, take control of the arm when necessary and also trigger the program to help you out with your panic attacks and episodes and stuff. It's shielded to Stark standards, but it's relatively easy to take off if you need to."

Bucky's eyes snap back to his bracelet in wonder.

"Here," Tony says, reaching over to activate it. It snaps into place with a satisfying 'snick'.

Steve's grin is unabated, fingers tracing over the prepubescent style engraving. "What about mine?"

Tony hesitates. "I wasn't sure if you'd want any of my tech."

Steve's grin wobbles just slightly, and Tony can't deny the happy warmth that spreads through him at Steve's disappointment. "Oh. Well, it's still-"

"That didn't stop me, of course" Tony admits. 

The grin reasserts itself.

"Yours has the panic attack program too. I mean, I know you don't get them like Bucky does, but," Tony shrugs because he doesn't quite know how to tell Captain America he knows about his nightmares. "I mean, the only version of the program I have is with my voice, but you can probably switch it over to Fri, and then I can work on getting a new voice for you-"

"Your voice is fine," Steve says, and Tony has to doubletake because Steve actually looks a little pink.

Moving on. Tony clears the sudden dryness in his throat. "And, you know tracking device you can turn on and off yourself by voice command. Only your voice works, no one else can turn it on or off. There's a slot for an uplink for Friday but I didn't know if you'd want that."

"An uplink?"

"Yeah, like having her around whenever you need her. Your own highly advanced, sentient siri," Tony says.

"So she is sentient?" Bucky chimes in, voice full of the same wonder he always has when talking about the AIs.

"Did I say that?" Tony muses, neither confirming nor denying. "Huh."

"Tease," Bucky accuses him with a smile that may or may not make Tony feel a little warm.

Tony pretends he didn't even hear him and heads over to see who won the battle over viewing material.

 


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disjointed chapter is disjointed. Soz.

Steve stares at the bracelet unable to take his eyes off it. He's not sure if the gesture is genuine and Tony is just being Tony, or if it's meant to mock him. Either way, he already knows he's going to wear it, and not just because of the functional aspect. His attachment to Tony is becoming unsettling in its strength, as if the intensity of hating each other for so long meant he could only feel things for Tony that matched that intensity, and now that the feelings were positive...

He isn't too sure about when he started to think about Tony quite this much. He suspects it started around the time they became adversaries and was, back then at least, because thinking about Tony went hand in hand with thinking about their situation and how to get out of it. Maybe that's why he didn't notice for as long as he did that he thinks about Tony rather a lot more than he should.

He thinks about the reappearance of the van dyke, about what he's going to say next time he sees Tony, about how Tony's coping without access to his workshop. Clearly he's still been managing to satisfy his inventing and tinkering urges as the talking toaster and Steve's friendship bracelet can testify, but it has to be bugging him. He thinks, with no small degree of horror, about how Tony would cope if he was handed over to their detractors. He thinks about how Tony used to look when he was teaching Steve how to reassemble whatever the neighbours had given them to fix back at the safehouse. So relaxed, so easygoing and approachable, so passionate about even the most mundane gadget so long as he could tinker with it. How his hands moved.

But without the war and without imminent threats of danger, it's become embarrassingly apparent that Steve can't keep his mind off Tony unless he's thinking about Bucky. And then there are the times he can't stop thinking about Tony  _and_ Bucky, and that's even more embarrassing. It's like going through that first realisation that he wasn't quite like other boys all over again, complete with the utter terror of being found out. Risking his friendship with Bucky's never really been an option and that was before the guy was brainwashed and traumatised, and Tony's only just accepted the possibility of being friends again. Besides, there are far more important things to be dealt with and thought about right now.

Like the letter he's currently writing out to Wanda, Scott, Sam and Sharon. 

It's sat half finished in his desk draw for days. He's tried each day to think of a way to finish it, but the page remains just as empty no matter how much he stares at it. Now, looking at the friendship bracelet on his wrist he thinks he finally knows what to say.

_Come home._

The day Wanda shows up on the doorstep Tony nearly has a panic attack. It's Bucky's hand on his shoulder that grounds him before the panic can take hold. 

Sam, as it turns out, has turned himself in directly. Scott and Sharon aren't coming back.

Wanda looks more unsure than Tony's ever seen her, closed in on herself and nervously licking her lips as she speaks. "I preferred to return freely, rather than in handcuffs."

"You were worried about being arrested," Tony interprets, earning a minute nod in return. "I mean, technically I have to arrest you now. Or, rather Pepper does as she's in charge of the tower's security right now. We can probably avoid handcuffs, but you're not free. You get that, right?"

Another tiny nod. "I understand."

"I need to know you're not going to hurt anyone," Tony says before he'll allow her to go any further. She's clearly used her abilities to enter the tower unnoticed, and Tony will be having words with her about that, but she refrains from using them on Tony now. As far as he can tell, anyway. 

"That is not my intent. I turned the thoughts of those I passed away from me in order to enter," Wanda admits. "I thought that it was best to avoid a confrontation. I... do not react well when confronted."

"I've noticed." Tony looks her over. "You been talking to Vision?"

She nods. "And I received Steve's letter."

They're on the communal floor, which none of them are supposed to have access to, JOCASTA having warned Tony and Bucky that Wanda was headed there once she entered the elevator. Seemingly the AI thought they were the only ones who needed to know, for reasons Tony couldn't really explain.

"Letter?" Tony glances at Bucky, who shrugs. 

"He has asked that we trust you," Wanda explains. "I am not sure that I can, but both he and Vision do and perhaps that is enough for now."

Tony's brain reboots. "Steve asked you to come back and turn yourself in?" He double checks.

Wanda nods.

With everything that's been going on, especially the last meeting they had with Merrick, Tony was floored by the idea that Steve would choose now of all times to ask Wanda to come back. "Why?"

She shrugs, eyes darting around as though she's expecting armed agents to come out of the shadows at any moment. "He implied our best chances at facing the future are together. He said we're making things worse by fighting each other."

"And you agree with him?" Tony asks. In the back of his mind the memory of Natasha's voice sounds, telling him Wanda needs constants. Her life has been anything but constant since that conversation, and the people in it less so.

"Sharon is not a leader, and Scott is... Scott," Wanda says. "Sam only remained with us as long as he did because he knew he was the only one left able to keep us together."

"You didn't want to be alone," Bucky simplifies.

Wanda doesn't argue.

Tony evaluates her for a moment longer. "Okay. Right. So, ground rules. No fighting. No messing with people's heads, in fact don't even take a peek. Your powers are only to be used in any way shape or form when you have explicit permission. Lessons with Xavier start as soon as we can nail down his schedule and you will do everything he says, no questions asked. Understood?"

"Yes," she says, though not without some degree of bitterness.

"Great. Your room is this way." Tony leads the group back to the elevator and takes her to the rooms he made for Thor. The big guy won't mind, he hasn't been in them in forever. 

They drop her off and Tony properly introduces her to JOCASTA. The girl will probably be living off whatever pop tarts are still in date in Thor's cupboards until Pepper can get her situation sorted out. Speaking of. "Jo, drop a line to Pepper. Tell her we've got a situation here that needs her oversight as house arrest warden."

"I have informed Miss Potts about our new... Guest." The pause is conspicuous and filled with what Tony might call distaste if he could be certain his baby girl was there yet.

"Awesome. Well, that's my job done. Feel free to watch TV or read one of Thor's trashy romance novels, and let JOCASTA know if there's something you really need," Tony says, already on his way to leaving.

Wanda takes an aborted step towards them as Tony and Bucky enter the elevator.

"Don't worry, kid," Bucky says. His awkwardness in saying the words isn't desperately reassuring, but Wanda nods anyway.

Tony takes pity. "I'll send Clint down once I've got the all clear from Pepper. Shouldn't take long."

It isn't the least bit of a surprise to Tony that Bucky follows him to the penthouse. Tony makes sure there's enough coffee in the pot for two and goes about planning how to tell Clint and Steve about their returned team mate.

"Takes a lot," Bucky muses aloud

"What does?"

Bucky shrugs. "Trusting someone after what you two have done to each other."

He isn't wrong. Tony's a little ashamed to admit that he still isn't there yet. He actually likes Steve now, finds his stubborn self-righteousness irritating as ever but a little endearing, but trust? He keeps going back and forth on it. He does trust Steve, that's what he keeps settling on, but the fact that he has to think about it every time and is always surprised by the answer makes him feel a little slow on the uptake compared with the guy in question. 

"Maybe it's easier," Tony suggests, because for Steve it might be. "Knowing what someone's capable of. Knowing just how bad they can get. Devil you know and all that."

Bucky shrugs again.

"What about you? Can't be easy trusting anyone from where you're standing," Tony says. He's not sure why.

"Harder to trust myself than you," Bucky says oh so casually.

Tony splashes boiling coffee over his hand as he pours the coffee. "That's, uh..."

Bucky continues, "You're transparent where it counts. When everyone else put on masks and got whole new names, you told the whole world who you are. You never pretended to be anything you're not, never dragged people you cared about into your messes without them knowing exactly what they were getting into."

"You don't sound to fond of the superhero community there, Buck," Tony chuckles uncomfortably. "All your friends are in that group. And a lot of them have really good reasons for keeping it all hush hush."

"Yeah, but it doesn't make them easy people to trust," Bucky replies. "Steve was always Steve. They wrote a damn comic book about the guy and kept his real name in it. Most of the Avengers are like that. Open."

Tony pulls a face. "It's the people you don't think have secrets that you need to be careful of."

"Maybe."

Tony considers for a moment. "What's this about?"

Bucky doesn't answer for a while, silently accepting his coffee and ruminating on the vapour. "You don't lie."

That's outright fabrication, but Tony doesn't contradict it which only goes to prove the point.

"You hide it in sarcasm or dance around saying it, or whatever," Bucky says. "But you don't lie to me. Everyone else does. Even Stevie lies when he thinks it'll protect me. I just... Wanted you to know I appreciate it, I guess."

"Thanks?" Tony says. "But just so you know, I'm not the most honest guy in the world."

Bucky's lips quirk. "I am aware."

"Good, because the thing about putting people on pedestals is that it's further for them to fall when they trip," Tony babbles, hugely uncomfortable with this whole situation. 

"That what happened with you and Steve?" Bucky asks.

Tony laughs. And then laughs some more. And then can't stop laughing for a good long while after, desperately trying to get his breath back while Bucky sits there watching with an amused smile that makes Tony feel even more breathless. "No," he gasps at last. "Not even a little bit."

 

 

Steve's reunion with Wanda is the height of awkwardness. She looks so damn relieved to see him, so reassured by his presence, and he looks... Well, awkward.

"It's good to see you," Steve says stiffly.

Wanda nods and looks like she wants a hug.

Steve does not look like he wants a hug.

Tony is beyond amused. "Okay, well. Wanda, you're not required to be at the meetings, though as long as you make a request before hand you can probably join in. Steve, you wanna sit this one out to settle in your comrade here?"

The true answer to that is a definite 'no'. 

"Sure," Steve says.

"Great," Tony turns to Clint as if it's an afterthought. "Unless you want to do the honours, of course?"

Clint, who Tony knows has been just dying to goof off a meeting to hang out with someone other than JOCASTA, nods furiously. "Yeah, that might be better."

"If that's okay with you, Steve?" Tony says, and by the way Steve's face twists with a mixture of relief, annoyance and amusement he definitely knows that was Tony's plan the whole time. 

"It's probably for the best."

Wanda doesn't seem to mind either way so long as she gets one of her team mates with her.

It was a hard won battle to persuade Pepper and the various other people they're currently somewhat accountable to that Wanda should have some company. They weren't supposed to be socialising at all, much less with a mind reader who could communicate with them unobserved. But Tony was pretty sure it was the better of two evils to keep the overpowered angst bucket relatively destressed, and he was able to convince the others of this. Mostly by repeated replaying of previous attempts at arresting or containing her.

Clint immediately starts yammering to Wanda like she's his own kid, and Steve turns to Tony.

"That was cruel," he says, eyes narrowed into a glare but sparkling with amusement all the same.

Tony shrugs. "I just thought you might want some quality time."

Steve hums dubiously and nudges Tony with his shoulder on the way into the elevator.

 

 

 

After the meeting Tony finds himself alone with the two supersoldiers. Given their situation they shouldn't be hanging out, but it seems to be happening more and more lately. None of them talk about it, they just migrate together after meetings and occasionally before meals, sometimes finding Bruce, Clint and or Natasha among them, but more often just the three of them. Sometimes they all end up on the same couch, pressed together from shoulder to knee and someone's arm draped across the back, and Tony feels like he's being seduced in an old movie apart from the fact there are two of them, they're men, and neither of them are interested. Quiet dinners and near cuddling aside, hanging out with Bucky and Steve seems easy, natural. Like they've been doing it for years. 

This time none of them are on the couch, all dotted about on the floor around a couple of bowls of snacks on the coffee table, Total Recall playing on the screen in front of them. The original, because rebooting an Arnie movie was always going to be a mistake.

They're all laughing about the triple breasted prostitute by the time Tony realises the friendly, mocking shoves they've been giving each other have started to devolve into a weird threeway game of footsie. The others still seem oblivious, mocking the special effect the way Tony taught them to and making up random lines of dialogue in Arnold Schwarzenegger's distinct Austrian accent. It would just make it weirder to get awkward about it now, right? They don't mean anything by it, and in all honesty Tony's always been a glutton for human contact and he hasn't had a decent Pepper or Rhodey cuddle in days.  

At one point Bucky's guffaws send his limbs sprawling wider and his foot scrapes up Tony's leg a little too far to avoid awkwardness, but Tony's still the only one to notice. Steve's too busy enjoying the easy laughs coming from a genuinely relaxed Bucky, and Bucky's too invested in the movie.

Tony feels a little creepy for enjoying the contact as much as he does. He picks up the bowl nearest to him, which is now empty but for unnaturally orange powder. "I'll get more Cheetos," he says, somewhat unnecessarily, and untangles himself to go pull himself together.

More Cheetos are completely unwarranted given the amount of various chips still left, and Tony feels like he should be filling the bowl with blueberries or mixed nuts or something a little healthier, but Bucky's developed a deep and abiding love for junk food (after side eyeing it and trash talking it for a good long while) and Tony doesn't have the heart to deprive him. He does grab himself a smoothie because he genuinely likes them now he doesn't rely on them to live. That and he doesn't have a serum enhanced body and does actually require the occasional fruit and/or vegetable.

He settles back on the floor with his legs folded under him to avoid temptation.

"You've gotta watch Terminator, Buck," Steve is saying when Tony gets back to the conversation.

Tony glances at Steve's grin and quickly diverts his attention back to the screen. "Didn't know you'd seen that one."

"It was on my list," Steve explains. "Natasha's pick."

Tony nods sagely. "Ah, yes. Natasha, Queen of cheesy eighties Sci Fi. Did you ever get around to watching War Games?"

Steve shakes his head. "I think Flash Gordon was next."

"Whose pick was that?" Tony asks.

"Fury's," Steve says, and Tony nearly chokes on his smoothie. Then Steve grins at him. "Not really. That one was added after the fifth time you called me Flash and said 'we only have fourteen hours to save the Earth'."

"I called you that?" Tony thinks back. "Huh. Not the most obvious pick, but I guess I can see where I was coming from."

"I think you were just trying to reference as many movies I hadn't seen as possible at that point," Steve says. 

"That's entirely possible," Tony admits. He also remembers making quite a few 'we can rebuild him' comments when he first heard about Bucky's arm. He's a simple man in a lot of ways.

"A lot of the movies you referenced made it to list," Steve says. "Probably more than the actual recommendations I got."

"Aww, Cap," Tony says, delighted. "Am I your font of twenty-first century pop culture knowledge?"

"You're a font of something, that's for sure," Steve replies, and nudges his knee with a foot.

Without his conscious permission, Tony's own foot escapes from under him to get revenge and he finds himself back in the footsie battle. Steve's grin grows wider than ever.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My pop culture references are endless. Steve would hate me.   
> Plotless fluff chapter because I needed it.

They don't sacrifice anyone. The presentation to the UN representatives goes well, and though it's a fight to get the US government to let go what power they have, the pressure from the public in light of the Avengers' reformation forces their hand. Bucky's panic attacks are under control, Wanda's excelling in her classes, Tony is still in New York, in the tower with them, and they've started to remodel to accommodate the newer team members. 

Steve's been trying for a week to come up with a valid reason for him and Bucky to stay up in the penthouse with Tony. So far he's got as far as 'Bruce could have his rooms back from Bucky, and Wanda could take my rooms'. He's sure it'll take very little convincing on Tony's part though, they already spend more time up there than they do anywhere else.

Their first call out they institute some new ideas on the damage control front, and the headlines are overwhelmingly positive again. New members have started to slip in and are training up at the compound. They're a promising lot but they have a way to go, and the original Avengers are enjoying their time to themselves as they fix everything they've broken.

Under the new TEASE charter Clint is able to go back to his family and retire in safety without fully giving up his team, and sometimes Steve visits them-

"Steve?" Natasha's voice interrupts.

Steve snaps out of his fantasy and tries desperately to remember what the other attendees of the meeting were talking about while he was lost in his own world. "Hmm?"

"We need your nomination. If it comes to it, who do we release to the authorities?" Natasha says, and Steve gets the distinct impression she's repeating herself.

Steve freezes. "I..." He can't bring himself to answer. Who can he nominate? Any non-Avenger won't be a big enough sacrifice to gain them any traction and the thought of throwing any of his teammates under the bus makes him feel physically sick. If Tony hadn't made it clear multiple times by now that Steve nominating himself would do more harm than good then Steve would have his answer without a second thought. As it is he's helpless. There's nothing he can say.

"C'mon, Nat, give the good Captain a break. We don't have to make him give the first nomination," Tony says. "We all know who I nominate. How about you, Clint?"

Clint seems to struggle almost as much as Steve, but he answers clearly enough. "Tony."

Tony nods. "Nat? Who's your pick?"

"Wait," Steve says. "We've been over this. It can't be Tony." If he has to he'll list the reasons all over again, but by now they're nothing new to anyone here. They've been over the pros and cons for each of them multiple times.

Natasha gives him a speculative look. "Agreed. Tony is too important to the success of TEASE. Give him up, we might as well give up the whole thing."

Steve relaxes.

"I'm still waiting for an alternative," Tony says.

Natasha straightens.

"And none of this self sacrificing bullshit, we both know you're not who they want," Tony says.

Natasha deflates minutely. "The safest call would be Steve. He's not at risk of losing control like Wanda or Bucky, he's a major playing piece, the PR from his voluntary surrender for the sake of TEASE would go a long way, and his is the cleanest public image. If we need to defend someone in court, he's our best bet."

Steve finds himself nodding. It makes sense.

"What? No!" Tony says. "That's a terrible idea! Throwing Captain America under the bus is not going to score us any points here. We need a scapegoat, someone involved enough to take full responsibility and controversial enough that the public can unite against them and forget about punishing everyone else. Again, we're back to me."

"If we surrender Steve but make it clear we support him then there's a chance we could get him acquitted," Natasha says. "If we want to keep everyone, this is our best bet. Allowing the authorities to make him stand trial and face the verdict is not throwing him under the bus. The public likes Steve, even now, we can use that. Bring back their loyalty to him, put pressure on for a desirable verdict."

"Too much of a risk. And if we do that, what's to stop them saying our compromise was empty?" Tony argues. "If he walks away scott free then they might feel cheated, and you do not want to go up against the US government when they feel unfairly treated. We need-"

"Natasha has a point," Bruce interrupts. 

"Like hell she does!" Tony snaps.

The next several minutes involve a lot of shouting and no resolution.

"Maybe we should ask someone else to make the call," Bruce suggests at last, and Steve's impressed at how well his control is holding up with all the tension in the room. "We're all too close to the issue. Maybe if we ask Merrick or Xavier or someone to make the call?"

"Actually," Tony says, eyes drifting off to Bruce's left. "That might work."

"What?" Steve asks, very much not liking that idea.

Tony shrugs. "Well, we've been sat in this room talking about having our own panel of judges suited to our particular situation for TEASE. Why not try implementing it a little early? We could get Merrick, Xavier, Richards, maybe an old SHIELD person or two. Put together our own little trial. Let some disinterested parties deal with it all."

"I would hardly call them disinterested parties," Bruce says, but the tension is drifting from his shoulders.

"Less interested than anyone else we could feasibly ask," Tony replies. "Less interested than us. And what else are we going to do? We're talking in circles here."

From there the talk drifts towards who should be asked to make the decision, how many people should be enlisted as their very own panel of high court judges, whether it's ethical to choose their own judges, and any number of other details Steve finds himself caring little about so long as Tony doesn't end up in Ross's, or any other punitive hands. 

They don't meet up with Tony after the meeting this time. Tony's up in the penthouse with Rhodey and Pepper, while Bucky lurks in the corner of Steve's living room. 

It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to tell that Bucky's upset. He's probably worked himself up into a state two steps away from some kind of meltdown in the time it took for the meeting to wrap up and everyone to go their separate ways. The problem is, Steve no longer knows how to help him. He used to. Before the train, Steve could have Bucky laughing and leaning into him by the end of five minutes, no matter how depressed, scared or angry he was. Now? Steve has a horrible feeling Tony would be the better bet to get Bucky out of his own head.

He has to try though. Tony's not here, won't be for who knows how long, and Steve can't let Bucky suffer if there's a chance he could help.

"Buck?" He tries.

Minute movements let Steve know Bucky's listening, though he doesn't show any sign of interest.

Steve feels the automatic reaction to a tense, upset Bucky try to trip off his tongue, but he forcibly reminds himself yet again that things are different now. "Do you want a hot drink?" He asks instead, because getting any form of engagement would be a start, and he knows he won't get that from jumping straight into the reasons Bucky's upset.

Bucky shakes his head.

He barely manages to suppress his sigh of relief at getting a response, but Steve manages to keep his reactions internal. "Okay. Well I for one could do with a warm glass of milk. You coming?"

Bucky snorts. "Warm milk?" He asks, slightly teasing, though he doesn't unfold himself from the corner.

"You got a problem with that?" Steve asks with a raised eyebrow. It's something he never used to be able to do, but hours of watching Natasha and practising in the mirror have paid off. 

"No, not at all," Bucky says. "Just  didn't realise you're still five years old. You're tall for your age."

Steve couldn't even drink warm milk at five due to his never ending list of food issues and allergies, something Bucky should know somewhere in that swiss cheese brain of his, but the teasing is more than Steve could have hoped for. "Don't knock it. Best thing for the stress of being under house arrest with inevitable doom hanging over you."

"You got any cookies to go with?" Bucky asks.

Steve stops moving towards the kitchen. The strain in Bucky's voice is obvious, but he's trying and it's wonderful. "Sure. But you can't have the whole pack to yourself, I need some for dunking."

"Sure thing, kid," Bucky agrees, and shoves himself away from the corner, forcing one foot in front of the other until he's following Steve to the kitchen.

 

 

Tony finds them a few hours later, coming into the room with an expression of exhaustion that says he tried and failed to sleep. He probably asked JOCASTA who else was awake and came down for some company. Steve tries not to feel pleased.

By this time Steve and Bucky have migrated to the couch, each leaning against one arm of it, legs thrown over each others and a blanket thrown over their legs. 

"Rewatching some classics?" Tony asks when he spots the screen. 

Steve glances back at the black and white movie. "No. Movies we just missed. We were gonna see this one next time we got a few hours leave."

Tony gravitates a little closer but remains awkwardly standing. "What is it? I'm a little behind on movies that don't have colour or explosions."

"The Picture of Dorian Gray," Bucky answers around a couple of popcorn kernels. 

"You never stop eating do you?" Tony asks.

Bucky shrugs.

Tony watches from his standing position for awhile. "Would have thought you'd be watching a musical or something. Or something that wasn't so..."

"What?" Steve asks. 

"I dunno." Tony shakes his head. 

"Are you gonna sit down?" Bucky asks. "You're kinda blocking the screen."

"Sorry," Tony mutters and turns to the armchair.

"What, do we got cooties?" Bucky throws a piece of popcorn at him. "Come sit with us."

Tony pauses and examines the couch, clearly wondering where exactly he's supposed to sit.

Both Steve and Bucky move their legs long enough for Tony to take a seat, then immediately place them back where they were, now with Tony trapped underneath them. Bucky offers Tony the popcorn.

"You're very Brooklyn today," Tony comments, refusing the snacks Bucky thrusts towards him.

Bucky shrugs. Steve's noticed he does that a lot these days.

They watch the movie in silence for awhile. Well, silent but for Bucky's chewing. He claims it's serum metabolism, but Steve doesn't eat nearly as often as Bucky. He's also pretty sure Bucky didn't eat this much before being exposed to junk food and Tony's near limitless bank balance.

Steve can't help but notice the rhythmic tapping of Tony's fingers against his leg isn't subsiding, and he isn't melting into the cushions the way Steve and Bucky are. The second the movie finishes, Tony fidgets and opens his mouth to speak. Steve's sure he's about to make his excuses and leave, and he tries desperately to think of something to say that'll make him stay.

Bucky beats him to it. "Can we all just stay here tonight?"

Tony's mouth shuts and his fidgeting stills. Steve barely dares to breathe, worried he'll ruin it somehow and either make Bucky retreat back into his shell or make Tony run away.

"It's barely still tonight, I'm pretty sure we're borderline with being this morning," Tony babbles nervously, and Steve wants to know what's making him nervous. Wants to know if it's the same thing forcing Steve to stay still and unobtrusive.

His legs are still tangled with Bucky's over Tony's lap, Tony's hand still resting on them, and Steve feels a little guilty for enjoying it as much as he does, but it's mostly innocent enjoyment. Mostly. And it's not hurting anyone. He really doesn't want this to end yet.

No one answers Tony's babble, but no one moves either. 

"Well, if we're going to have a slumber party in Steve's living room, I for one need to set up on the floor and prevent major back problems," Tony says at last.

Steve relaxes. "We could pull the cushions off the furniture and lay them out on the floor?" He suggests. He and Bucky used to do it all the time as kids. Of course, there were a lot less cushions involved back then, but they were also a lot smaller and didn't have a third person to accommodate. Steve mentally lays out the cushions in his head. There should be enough. Just. Might be a squeeze, but he'll be the last to complain about that.

They wind up pressed up against each other, Bucky in the middle this time which surprises Steve. He'd assumed Bucky would want to be on one side, all the more easy to escape if he needs to, but Bucky himself chose his position. 

They turn on another movie, this one Tony's pick. It's new enough to be in colour, but old enough that it doesn't have the same glitzy appearance as the more modern movies.

"It's a classic," Tony tells them as it starts. But then, according to Tony anything made before the year 2000 that Tony's watched the whole way through more than once is a classic.

When Tony had asked for 'The Lost Boys' Steve had been expecting something to do with Peter Pan. Not... this. 

"Don't tell Natasha we watched this without her," Tony insists as a group of teenagers with very strange fashion choices parade across the screen. "Man, I loved this movie. Must've forced Rhodey to watch it a dozen times."

"It's not the kind of thing I'd have thought you liked," Steve says.

"Yeah, well," Tony says, then, "watch this part!"

Steve doesn't. He watches Tony instead, and notes that Bucky does the same.

The movie is entertaining, if a bit odd, and Steve and Bucky are more than willing to let Tony choose the next one as well.

"Let's see. How to continue our night of gay subtext," Tony says, then adds somewhat belatedly, "movies. Both those movies are gay as hell. Let's stick to the theme. Point Break? It's not horror, but it's a great movie."

"Isn't that what you keep calling Thor?" Steve asks, forcibly ignoring what may well have been a Freudian slip. Steve kind of hopes it was a Freudian slip.

Tony looks over at him in glee. "We're definitely watching Point Break. Jo?"

In between the incredibly pretty men on screen and the incredibly pretty men beside him, Steve falls into a pleasant doze, drifting in and out to the sounds of the movie and Tony's chatter. 

The next thing he's aware of is Bucky sat sentinel between him and a still sleeping Tony. 

"You alright?" Steve asks sleepily. 

Bucky's stony expression softens minutely. He nods. "Go back to sleep."

Steve wakes up a little more. "What's wrong?"

Bucky sighs and curses softly. "Steve..." he glances at Tony and seems to steel himself. "If they choose him, we can't let them take him."

"What?" Steve rubs his face and tries to pull his thoughts, still fragmented and full of dreams, together. 

"If he's the scapegoat," Bucky says.

Steve nods in agreement. Whatever happens, Tony's not going down for everything that's happened. Not on his own. 

"And if they choose you," Bucky continues.

"If they choose me, you'll let Tony and Natasha handle it," Steve interrupts. He can't stand the thought of what would happen to Bucky if he tried to break Steve out. Natasha had a point about supporting him in court if it comes to it. 

"I don't know if I can do that," Bucky admits.

Steve pulls him back down into a hug and tries to ignore the part of him that wishes they were cuddling for more pleasant, more romantic reasons.


	30. Chapter 30

Bucky isn't stupid. Just because he was the winter soldier for as long as he was, doesn't mean he doesn't remember what being a normal fella was like. A little bit anyway. Enough to know that how he acts around Tony is dangerous. That it would only take a comment or a touch too far for it all to go horribly wrong. 

But he can't help it.

Tony is so... touchable. Bucky vaguely remembers a time when touching people wasn't such a big deal, but in the here and now the only people he's really comfortable touching are Steve and Tony. And it's so good to touch Tony, so comforting and exhilarating and safe,  and more often than not these days, he's receptive and inviting. Ruffling his hair, nudging his shoulder, leaning on him or against him, these have all become things Bucky is allowed and like hell is he passing that up. Sometimes at his worst moments touching Tony feels dangerous in a whole other way, and Bucky drowns in the terror of hurting Tony. Steve's different, still touchable and in some ways vulnerable, but short of death there's not a whole lot Steve can't recover from and he's more than a match for Bucky's enhancements and training. One wrong move and Tony could be permanently injured or worse. 

Even in those moments Bucky can't stop himself.

Right now it doesn't feel dangerous. Pressing up against Tony's side as they wait for the coffee to finish brewing with the excuse that neither of them is fully conscious yet and both may need assistance to remain upright and awake. Their hands are so close that they brush every now and then, making Bucky's fingers twitch.  

They spent another night piled up close watching movies, though Steve left early in the morning to shower and eat and do other disgustingly functional morning type things. Tony's shirt is rumpled and his hair is a mess, strands sticking straight up in some places and drifting down over his forehead in others.

When Tony rests his head on Bucky's shoulder, just for the length of time it takes for him to let out a mournful groan over the lack of ready to drink coffee, Bucky thinks about it. About raising his arm around Tony's shoulders, turning to drop a kiss on his hair. Maybe one on his lips. He doesn't, of course.

Steve comes back while they're both on their second cup and bickering over morning TV. The smile on his face at the sight of them amplifies the contentment of the moment, as does the way he casually drops to sit on the floor at their feet and joins in the argument without pause.

"You just got here. You don't get a say," Tony says, foot nudging Steve's side.

Steve grabs Tony's foot in the act and hangs onto it. 

Tony scowls suspiciously. "I swear to god, if you tickle me I will cause you permanent damage. Serum or no."

Bucky twists with raised eyebrows.

"That goes for you, too," Tony points at him.

"That sounds almost like a challenge," Steve comments in a tone so innocent both Tony and Bucky know exactly what's going to happen next.

"No," Tony says futility. 

The tickling lasts far less time than the urgent containment of Tony's limbs, which are doing their best to fulfil his promise of causing permanent damage to both Steve and Bucky. It's an admirable effort. Bucky thinks he speaks for Steve too when he says tickling Tony is not something they will be attempting again.

By the end of it Bucky finds himself pinning Tony's hands above his head while Steve pins Tony's legs with his own, superhero chest weighing down Tony's twisting torso. There's a moment of breathlessness and anticipation that makes Bucky's body sing and then they all disperse, going back to arguing over the TV and ignoring the undercurrent that stays with them the rest of the day.

The current disperses abruptly with Pepper's arrival the next morning. Her face is set so seriously Bucky wonders for a moment if someone died, but there's also a determination about her that speaks of action.

Tony practically stands to attention with her entrance. 

No one says anything as Pepper takes a seat, gesturing for Tony to do the same. She hands him a tablet with a document already open on it. 

Tony glances at it but his eyes fix back on Pepper without reading it. "We did it?"

Pepper inclines her head. "We've got a hearing date. The rest is far from given, but it's more progress than I thought we'd make for at least another three months."

"Wow," Tony breathes out as he looks over the document at last. "That is fast. Can we get our case together in that amount of time?"

Pepper winces. "We can. But there are some things we might have to consider that we're not going to like."

"Like what?" Tony asks.

"Asking Wanda to testify," Pepper says.

"Wait, what's going on?" Steve asks, having politely ignored the conversation in favour of watching the morning news until Wanda's name came up.

"It's about Vihs," Tony says. "We've got a chance to get him classified as human before we go ahead with TEASE. This'd put him off the table in negotiations and demands and mean TEASE applied to him as well. He could come home."

"Why do you need Wanda?" Steve asks Pepper.

She looks like she's eating a particularly sour lemon as she answers. "Wanda is one of the few people who has had experience with both the mindstone and Vision. She's able to read minds and she's also valuable as a character witness. We could call in Xavier but we've already got him pinned down with TEASE business, and he doesn't know Vision like Wanda does."

Steve nods. "I'm sure she'll be more than happy to help."

Pepper concedes the point with another head tilt. "There is a risk, however, that asking her to speak on Vision's behalf will have a negative effect. She is still a criminal in the eyes of the law, and tying her honesty to Vision's personhood... It's not ideal."

Tony's expression is grim as he looks up from the tablet, presumably having read all the information on it. "We don't have a lot of time. I know the lawyers have been working on this forever, but with all the other stuff going on it's going to be tough to find the time to prep. And I'm a little worried  about bringing Vision back for the hearing. What if our case fails and they decide to take him on the spot?"

"Then we fight it. Even if they're not willing to concede personhood, we could go down the route of private property. You and Helen made him, you could fight on grounds of ownership," Pepper strategises. 

Tony pulls a face. "But then if we ever get an appeal, we'll have already legally agreed that he's an object."

Pepper sighs and shakes her head. "We're doing all that we can. This is progress, it's a good thing. We don't have the time and energy to waste on 'what ifs' right now."

Tony looks ready to protest but something stops him. "Right. Well. I guess we've got work to do."

"As always," Pepper smiles and stands. "Will that be all Mr. Stark?"

For some reason completely out of Bucky's understanding this sudden formality makes Tony relax and smile in return.

"That will be all, Miss Potts," Tony says.

"When's the hearing?" Bucky asks once Pepper has left.

"Two weeks," Tony says, Pepper's tablet still in his hands. "Excuse me, I've got to go update my personal statement and...hmm..." He trails off, already distracted.

Steve and Bucky exchange a glance.

"Why don't you sit out on today's meeting?" Steve suggests.

The fact that Tony hears him through whatever million mile a minute thoughts are whirling through his head speaks volumes. "What?"

"You can use the extra time to work on Vision's case, and Bruce and Natasha can speak on your behalf," Steve reasons. "If it helps..." He hesitates a moment before continuing. "If it helps I can sit it out too. Either way, I don't think your head's gonna be in the right place for TEASE discussions."

Tony looks torn for a moment. He looks down at the tablet. "Yeah. Yeah, that's probably for the best. I'll, uh, I guess I'll see you later."

Bucky wants to reach out and physically stop Tony from leaving the room, but he knows better than to try. Tony needs to be able to work undistracted.

"Never thought we'd have to actually prove that Vision's a person," Steve says. He sounds disturbed by the notion. "It's pretty obvious he is. He can think, he can make choices."

"So can FRIDAY and JOCASTA," Bucky points out.

Steve considers that. "Well, I guess I always thought of them as... I don't know." He sighs. "Maybe after this we can get them legal personhood too."

Bucky shrugs. He highly doubts that will ever happen, just as he highly doubts Tony will ever let the world know just how advanced his AIs are in the first place.

 

They don't see Tony for the next five days. He begs off the daily meetings and JOCASTA won't let them near the penthouse. Bucky misses the guy, but it isn't killing him quite the same way he can see it killing Steve. The meetings drag and impossibly it seems that they're actually running out of things to discuss. Steve's frustration at all the talking with no real result in sight paired with his painfully obvious desperation to be of help to Tony when he knows he can't is an awful thing to observe. And just as bad to be on the receiving end of.

The third time Steve snaps at Clint over his godawful habit of chewing with his mouth open, Clint fixes him with a sour look. "Just because Boyfriend Number Two is busy doesn't mean you get to take it out on us. Why don't you go release some tension with Boyfriend Number One and leave the rest of us to eat dinner in peace?"

Steve's scowl is a sight to behold. Bucky's genuinely not sure if that scowl has ever graced Steve's face since he grew muscles on top of his muscles. 

"Don't be a dick," Natasha tells Clint. "And Steve isn't the only one who doesn't like looking at the half masticated contents of your mouth."

" _I'm_ being a dick?" Clint says indignantly. 

"Yes," Natasha says shortly and goes back to eating her meal. 

Clint grumbles but doesn't say anything more. He even makes an effort to chew with his mouth closed.

"He shouldn't be up there all on his own for this long," Steve says. 

"He's not," Natasha tells him. "Pepper's been up there most days, and Rhodes visited a couple of times."

It stings. More than stings. Bucky forces his mouthful down his suddenly uncooperative throat and avoids looking at Steve's face, where he's sure he'd see his own feelings reflected. 

Natasha keeps eating without comment, though she can hardly have failed to see Steve's reaction. She probably even noticed Bucky's, though he's far better at keeping his expression locked down. 

Clint is not so gracious. "Jesus christ, he's not dead, or run off with a younger woman. They've been his friends since he was practically a kid, and Potts is working on the Vision thing with him."

"I'm sure he'll let you know when he wants some company," Bruce says. "He'll need to take a proper break sooner or later."

Steve raises a sceptical eyebrow that Bucky can't help but agree with.

"We're his friends too," Bruce reminds them. "Just because Pepper and Rhodes are what he needs right now, doesn't mean he won't need us later."

Steve sighs heavily. "I just wish there was something I could do to help."

Bruce nods sympathetically. "I know. We all do. But the best thing we can do right now is keep working on TEASE and give Tony the time he needs to figure this out."

"I know," Steve admits. Doesn't mean either he or Bucky has to like it though.

 

At the end of the five days, literally minutes before they'd technically be on the sixth day, Bruce's words are proven correct. Bucky wakes to find Tony watching him from the bedroom doorway, something Bucky would find creepy if it were most anyone else. As it is, Bucky just turns on the lamp.

"You alright?" Bucky asks, voice raspy from sleep. He's actually been sleeping pretty well since Tony gave him the bracelet. Just the knowledge that it's there helps more than he'd have thought, and hearing Tony's voice, even if it's not live, going through the routine they set up together works no end of wonders when things get bad.

Tony doesn't answer, and that gets Bucky out of bed faster than even a loud cry of pain might have.

"Tony?" Bucky comes as close as he feels he can without hemming Tony in. 

"I'm fine," Tony says unconvincingly. "I just..." He trails off and looks around the room like he's not quite sure why he's there.

Bucky tries to meet his eyes, but Tony's gaze won't stay in one place for more than a moment. "You wanna go see Steve? Have another sleep over?"

There's a slight hesitation but then Tony's nodding, and Bucky ushers him out of the room, following closely at his heels.

Steve's already awake when they enter his room, sat up against the headboard sketching by the light of his bedside lamp. "Everything okay?" He asks as they make their way over to the bed.

"Yeah," Bucky answers in a tone that means 'no, but leave it alone for now'. "Just thought we'd bunk with you again tonight. You make a great hot water bottle."

"Hot water bottle?" Tony asks, sounding only half present.

Steve grins, but it's tempered with worry. "Finally, something I understand and the great and mighty Tony Stark doesn't."

"It's a rubber bottle you fill with hot water and stick in your bed when it's cold or you're sick," Bucky explains. "We used to use 'em a lot back in the Thirties."

"Nothing better for achy joints," Steve reminisces. With how often he got ill or cold his hot water bottle had been his most jealously guarded possession growing up.

"Oh," Tony says distantly. 

"Tony?" Steve says, moving to get out of bed as the other two haven't quite made it onto the mattress yet.

Bucky shakes his head and guides Tony to sit on the bed, taking his shoes off, then gently prompting him to move to help him take off his jeans.

Once they're all in Steve's bed, Tony wedged between the two of them and seemingly not minding the lack of exit route despite Bucky's half formed prediction that he'd make a run for it, Bucky catches Steve's eye to give him the go ahead.

"Tony, what's happened?" Steve asks carefully, arm twitching where he's clearly resisting the urge to wrap it around Tony's shoulders.;

"Nothing. Nothing's happened," Tony assures them. 

"Then what-?"

"What if I lose him?" Tony asks.

"Vision?" Steve checks.

Tony swallows. "He doesn't even think I like him. It's hard, you know, he sounds so much like Jay. And I just. He's all that's left of him. It's like he's JARVIS' kid or something. And I know that sounds stupid, but I can't... What if we lose? What if they take him away and try to wipe him?"

Steve leans around to meet Tony's eye with a wry smile. "Look at me."

Tony does, though Bucky isn't sure his focus is really on Steve.

"What do you think I would do if TEASE failed and they tried to take Bucky away somewhere?" Steve asks.

Tony rolls his eyes. "I told you, that isn't going to happen. If we end up having to fight the courts then we'll argue the brainwashing there like I originally planned."

"And if they reject that? Or they decide to go through the patriot act? Or just impose Ross' accords on us?" Steve pushes.

Tony looks irritated now, a little more himself but no less distressed. "This isn't about Barnes."

"Answer the question, Tony," Steve says.

"Fine. You'd probably run off with him again. I know you bunked with T'Challa for a while there, maybe he'd put you up again," Tony answers.

"So you don't doubt that if it came to it I could get Bucky out?" Steve says.

Tony scoffs. "Having tried to stop you myself, I doubt anything short of a miracle could stop you saving Bucky's skin."

Steve nods. "Right. So believe me when I say that if they try to take Vision, we will get him out. We'll get him to Wakanda, or wherever will take us. We're a team."

Tony's expression is a strange mess of emotion. "We've only been a team again for a couple of months, if that. You haven't even seen Vihs since we kissed and made up."

"Would you let them take Wanda?" Steve asks.

Tony pulls a face. "Not a fair comparison. I'd let them take her in a heartbeat."

Steve raises his eyebrows and fixes Tony with a Look. 

"Fine," Tony admits with a sigh. "I wouldn't just hand her over if she was going to end up brainwashed or turned into a weapon or stuck in a dark hole. But that's different."

"It isn't," Steve insists. "Vision is part of this team, and we're not going to let anything happen to him. The same way we wouldn't let anything happen to anyone else on the team."

Tony shakes his head, a sad smile on his face. "You're going to be impossible when they tell us who they're handing over for the TEASE negotiations."

"We're not handing anyone over," Steve says, full of confidence. "They'll realise how stupid the idea is and they'll figure out something else to offer."

"Like what?"

Steve shrugs. "Something that won't pit them against the Avengers."

"Steve..."

Bucky presses his side up against Tony, not sure how much he can get away with but needing to both give and receive comfort from the man. "We're staying together," he backs Steve up. No matter what it costs, he's not losing either of them, and if losing any of the others means losing one of them then he won't let that happen either. 

Tony's smile softens until it's barely an upturn of his lips, mostly resting in his exhausted eyes. "Well, who am I to argue with Captain America  _and_ the Winter Soldier?"

Steve rolls his eyes. "Shut up."

"Can we get some sleep now that you've forced me to talk about my feelings?" Tony asks.

"Sure," Bucky says. 

Tony looks around like he's finally realising how trapped he is by his position. Not that Steve and Bucky would force him to stay if he wanted to leave. Despite seeming to consider it, Tony doesn't say anything about his position, just lies down, scooching his way under the covers and giving them both an expectant look. "Is somebody gonna turn off the light? Because I can probably sleep with it on but I'd rather not."

Steve leans over to switch off the lamp accordingly and joins Tony, though unlike Tony his eyes remain open, looking over the worried creases that won't leave Tony's face until after he's fallen asleep if at all. 

Bucky finds himself unsurprised to note the open affection in Steve's expression. For all that it's always been the two of them against the world, no matter what, such a strong feeling that Bucky can remember it even on his worst days, Bucky's beginning to think Tony might become as important to them as they are to each other. Wonders if he has already. It only takes a moment's introspection for Bucky to confirm that for him at least, Tony is every bit as crucial as Steve. For all their shared history, which Bucky can't always remember fully but remembers enough of to feel its weight, Steve is no more a part of the person Bucky's becoming than Tony is. 

When he's sure Tony's asleep, his breathing evened out and mouth dropping open just a little, Bucky catches Steve's eye. "You know I'm not the same, right?"

Steve frowns in question.

"I'm not Bucky," Bucky  says, "Not like how you want me to be. I'm different."

"I know, Buck," Steve reassures him. "But I'm not the same either. I know it doesn't really compare to what you... what they did to you, but we've both changed. After the ice..."

Bucky notes with open curiosity the way Steve's eyes dart away from him. 

"You wouldn't have recognised me," Steve continues with a forced levity. "I couldn't have a bath for months. I was quiet, even."

Bucky snorts. "That's hard to believe."

Steve smiles a little more genuinely at that. "Didn't have much of anyone to talk to."

The glance Bucky gives towards Tony doesn't go unnoticed.

"You know we were never really friends before. Tony and I, we clash. Not just over you and the register, over pretty much everything," Steve admits, and his hand  twitches towards Tony's sleeping form. "We wanted to be friends. I think we were friendly enough towards the end, we both tried. But.." He shakes his head and sighs, eyes back to being fixed on Tony's face. He fiddles with his friendship bracelet before frowning at Tony's exposed wrist laying on top of the covers.

"What?" Bucky asks.

"He doesn't have one," Steve says.

"What?" Bucky repeats, voice rising in exasperation just a little above the quiet tones they had been using.

"A friendship bracelet."

Bucky considers. "He made ours."

"So?"

"So wouldn't it be odd for him to make himself a friendship bracelet?"

Steve concedes the point with a nod. "We should make him one."

Bucky looks down at his own. He can't imagine how they could make anything that could compare to the gift Tony gave him. There's nothing they have to give that could do justice to the safety that one trinket has given Bucky. Even Steve's is more than just a piece of jewellery.  Still.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is officially the longest fic I've ever written. The longest thing I've ever written full stop. 
> 
> I did consider not posting this for a little while and spacing out the chapters, but I live for comments and feedback and after finally handing in the last pieces of my degree work I won't even pretend I have the willpower to hold out. Go easy on my stress inspired run on sentences.
> 
> Disclaimer: I've never had Pryanik and I've no idea how it's made, but it sounds delicious

Tony wakes only a few hours later, though not by choice. JOCASTA wakes him to inform him that Pepper will be there shortly with some papers from their lawyers, and Tony drags himself over a grumbling Bucky to head for the nearest source of caffeine. 

Steve, annoying morning person that he is, though Bucky assures him it's more serum than personality based, is already awake and showered. 

"Why does anyone do this to themselves by choice?" Tony mutters as he checks the clock. It's a little after nine, and if he was living back before the Sokovia thing then he'd still be in bed for another three hours at least.

Steve laughs a little and shoves a smoothie and a cup of coffee forward on the breakfast bar towards him.

Tony blinks. "Thanks."

His gratitude is brushed off with a shrug and a half smile. "I know better than to try to get solid foods down you this soon after waking up."

Which is a sensible approach to take where Tony is concerned, but, "You didn't have to get me anything."

Steve raises an eyebrow. "That's not what you said back at the safehouses."

"That's different, we were cohabiting," Tony points out. 

"You spent the night in my bed, I think I'm required to at least offer you breakfast," Steve says with a wry smile.

"Captain America cracking dirty jokes?" Tony clutches at his chest. "I hope you're aware of what this kind of thing can do to me, I have a heart condition."

"No matter how many times you play that, I will never not point out that you don't have a heart condition anymore," Steve says. "Also, that I've never been half the humourless prude you insist on me being."

"And I will remind you that I'm not the one who insisted on a 'must wear pants in the communal areas' rule back at the compound," Tony points out.

Steve rolls his eyes and goes back to eating his protein packed breakfast.

Eyeing the no less than four separate protein sources on Steve's overfilled plate, Tony hesitates before putting the smoothie to his lips. "You haven't slipped like a raw egg or something in here have you?"

"No? Why?" Steve asks, genuinely confused, and Tony has to remind himself that as much as Steve now knows about Tony, he hasn't ever really seen him in the workshop with the bots and the cause of Tony's now habitual distrust of smoothies he hasn't actually seen being made. It's a jarring thought.

"Remind me to introduce you to DUM-E sometime," Tony says.

"Why, does he put raw eggs in your smoothies?"

Tony shrugs. "More likely motor oil or one time engine degreaser."

Steve continues to look confused.

"I think the distinction between what's good for cars and what's good for people got corrupted somewhere along the way," Tony says. "He's not actually trying to poison me. I don't think."

"Right," Steve says, clearly amused.

 

 

Ever since he came back out of the penthouse to socialise in between meetings with Vision's lawyers, Tony's been fending off Wanda's smug, pointed looks every time Bucky smiles at him or touches him in any way. It's getting harder to deny that whatever's going on with the supersoldiers is blurring several lines. 

The first time Tony finds himself alone in a room with Wanda he wants to flee for completely different reasons to those he would usually have. "Don't."

"I did not say anything," Wanda says innocently.

Tony narrows his eyes. "You're thinking it."

"I thought I was the one who can read minds?" Wanda smiles evilly. "How could you possibly know what I'm thinking?"

He doesn't dignify that with an answer.

"Vision asked when he will be allowed back to the tower," Wanda tells him.

"As soon as I get the all clear that he's not going to get confiscated." Tony sighs. Poor guy's been asking Tony the same thing and he doesn't have a solid answer yet. Last Tony heard the court hearing over Vision's humanity would be the first chance they'd get to challenge the military's attempts at taking him. He'd handed over a lot of the strategising to this lawyer guy who'd originally come to talk to them about TEASE, but who as it turns out if a pretty nifty guy regarding the legal rights of super people. From what he could garner from his own lawyers, the guy's pretty nifty at a lot of kinds of legal jargon that doesn't fall under his criminal law background. So he'd appointed the guy Vision's legal representative alongside a couple of his own lawyers who specialised in the area and handed over the reigns. Pepper's orders after she found Tony quite possibly delusional after attempting hour forty of old case reviews. According to her, him attempting to earn his law degree in under a month wouldn't help if it meant he died from shock through exhaustion. Delegation is a thing he's been doing a lot lately.

Wanda nods, though she doesn't bother to hide her discomfort at the answer. "I was surprised that I am able to maintain contact with him since I turned myself in. JOCASTA volunteered a communications channel."

"Vision's family," Tony says in explanation. If Vision needs Wanda then it doesn't matter how Tony and by extension his AIs feel about her.

They sit in silence for a while, listening to the chaos coming from the kitchen where Clint is trying to teach Bucky and Steve how to bake something or other. The others are dotted around the communal floor, which Pepper finally gave them explicit permission to use after the ridiculous number of times she caught them all in Tony's living room, and his bedroom on a couple of occasions. Apparently the potential fallout of finding them all curled up on Tony's bed with him still half naked in the middle is enough to cancel out any concerns that someone might find out Pepper let them violate the terms of their surrender.

Bucky runs through a moment later, completely covered in flour and presumably going to wash it out of his precious silky locks. When Tony makes a comment to that effect Bucky pauses to shake his hair out over Tony. 

Once Bucky is safely out of the room again, Wanda gives Tony yet another pointed look. "Bucky seems very... comfortable here. With you."

"Shut it," Tony says.

"I'm just saying," Wanda continues just to spite him, "it seems as though you two have become...close."

"Enough with the innuendo and dramatic pauses. There's nothing going on. Not like that," Tony says.

Wanda tilts her head. "Why?"

Tony frowns. "Why? What do you mean why? Why would there be?"

"Why would you not make your attraction known to him?" Wanda asks, and Tony splutters.

"That's not a thing," Tony denies vehemently, even though he's lying. "And even if it was, he and Steve have the whole epic love story thing going on. I'm not dumb enough to mess with that, even if I thought I stood a chance."

"Why should his love for Steve prevent you?" Wanda's expression says that she genuinely doesn't see the problem there.

"Because," Tony snaps, "I'm not going to stop him being with the guy he's been in love with since the thirties."

Wanda sighs. "I never said you should."

"I don't follow."

Wanda shakes her head and turns back to the book she's been pretending to read any time the conversation lulls.

"You're weird," he tells her.

She actually smiles a little.

 

Once the baking is done Steve and Clint emerge with a platter of baked goods Tony can't identify. They smell good though. 

"What are these?" Wanda asks, and Tony's grateful someone asked.

"Pryanik," Clint replies, already stuffing his mouth.

"Which is?" Tony presses.

"A Russian thing. Tasha made them for the kids once and then I had to learn or lose their loyalty forever," Clint explains. "Kinda like gingerbread."

Tony accepts the answer with a shrug and grabs one. Wanda follows a little more cautiously, probably still paranoid from that one time Clint gave her calamari back at the compound.

Natasha appears herself not long afterwards, seemingly summoned by the smell of her weird Russian food, Bucky close on her heels.

"Where's Bruce?" Tony asks. 

Natasha shrugs. "He said he had a phonecall with Xavier."

"Does he love Xavier more than me? Tell me the truth, have I lost him forever?" Tony says plaintively.

I don't know how to tell you this, but Bruce said he wants to start seeing other scientists," Natasha responds.

Tony clutches his heart dramatically. "How could he do this to me?"

Natasha pats his arm as she sits down beside him. She narrows her eyes at the pryanik and the smudge of flour on Steve's shirt. "Clint, have you been sharing my recipes with other people?"

"I didn't know they were supposed to be secret?" Clint says.

Tony shakes his head. "No one's loyal anymore. Natasha, let's you and me run away and escape these treacherous people who claim to be our friends."

"Didn't we already do that once?" Natasha asks, grabbing a pryanik despite herself.

"And yet here they all are," Tony says.

"Gee, thanks for making a guy feel wanted," Steve says, shoving Tony's shoulder hard enough to carry through and jostle Natasha on the other side.

"Don't worry, Cap. We all know Tony wants you bad," Clint says. "So bad."

Tony has no choice but to throw the remainder of his Russian gingerbread at Clint's face. Annoyingly, Clint just catches it in his mouth.

Bucky sniggers.

They all turn to look at him, still not used to hearing the guy laugh. Even for Steve and Tony it's somewhat of a novelty outside of their private movie nights.

Bucky goes red from the sudden attention. "What?"

Tony looks at the plate of baked goods again. "Wait. So does this mean Natasha can cook?"

"Every functional adult can cook, Tony," Natasha says.

"Beg to differ," Tony argues. "I'm an adult."

"I said functional," Natasha says.

Tony tilts his head. "Fair point."

"You say that, but beyond like five baking recipes I wouldn't trust anything you put in front of me," Clint says to Natasha. 

Natasha shrugs. "Cooking skill wasn't something the Red Room was overly concerned about. I learned what I needed to to get by."

"And what you needed to get by were variations of cakes and cookies?" Clint questions.

"Shut up," Natasha says.

 

As they all gradually disperse back to their activities, Clint and Tony stay seated. Tony attempting to access Murdock's files so he can have a peek at what's going on while Clint plays angry birds on a tablet Tony argued  for them to be able to have as it has no internet connection. Wanda is stretched across a whole sofa with a book. Steve, goody two shoes that he is, is cleaning up the kitchen while Bucky keeps him company. Natasha, as the only one who isn't technically under arrest, has left the tower to do god knows what.

Periodic cursing comes from Clint, and the occasional quiet huff of reaction from Wanda as she reaches particularly interesting passages of her book. Both seem to be having more fun than Tony.

Tony considers going to the kitchen to hang out with Steve and Bucky, but the knowing look Wanda shoots him every time he so much as glances in that direction is enough to keep him stubbornly seated.

Eventually the decision is made for him as Steve calls him over. Tony carefully avoids looking at the witch as he stands.

"What's up?" Tony asks.

"We're trying to work out what exactly this is supposed to be," Steve holds up an electronic appliance Tony isn't even sure he's seen before this moment.

"Haven't a clue," Tony says truthfully.

"Really?" Steve looks at the device. 

"JOCASTA, do you know what it is?" Bucky asks. 

JOCASTA answers immediately. "That is a Stark brand spiralizer."

"We make spiralizers?" Tony asks. He's sure he'd remember that being on the company portfolio.

"Along with fifty-eight other energy efficient kitchen appliances," JOCASTA responds.

"Huh."

"What is a spiraliser though?" Steve asks.

"I can show you the infomercial if you would like, Mr. Rogers?" JOCASTA offers.

Steve looks curious for another second then shakes his head. "No thanks."

"Is that all you called me in for?" Tony asks.

Steve pulls a face between confused and offended. "We need a better reason?"

"No, I just-"

"Because I remember a certain someone once waking us up at three am to ask if we had toasters in the thirties," Steve continues, lips twitching as he very obviously tries to keep a straight face.

"And the time you came down to the clinic right in the middle of Steve giving a guy stitches to ask if 'boner' really meant mistake back then," Bucky adds.

"Legitimate questions," Tony argues.

"So is wanting to know what the hell a spiraliser is," Steve says.

Tony rolls his eyes and gives up, taking a seat at the breakfast counter. "I'm pretty sure a spiraliser just cuts vegetables into spirals."

Bucky frowns. "Why would anyone want to make their vegetables into spirals?"

"I don't know, do I look like someone who uses any other kitchen appliance than the coffee maker?" Tony says.

Steve laughs and stows the spiraliser in a cupboard full of other kitchen gadgets Tony has probably never laid eyes on before let alone used. He sits down next to Tony when he's done and nudges him with his shoulder for no apparent reason.

Bucky grabs a bag of chips and heads back out into the living room.

"You done with cleanup already?" Tony asks. "After the three of you being here for over an hour I was expecting a demolition crew would be required."

"Just because you can't go near a stove without burning the building down doesn't mean we're as bad," Steve says.

Tony shrugs. 

"Tony?" Steve asks after a moment. 

"Yeah?"

Steve opens his mouth then closes it again. Then asks, "do you want a coffee?"

"That is a redundant question, Rogers. I always want a coffee," Tony tells him.

Steve gives an awkward chuckle. "I guess so."

Tony watches him as he gets up and goes around the counter again to start up the coffee machine. "Is everything okay?"

Steve nods. "Yeah."

"Okay then," Tony says and squints at Steve's all too even expression. 

"I just..." Steve starts.

"Just what?" Tony prompts when he trails off.

Steve glances at him. "Will we still be like this after?"

"After what?"

"After TEASE. If everything works out," Steve says. "Will we still be here together? You and me, and the team? Or will you go back to Malibu?"

Tony considers for a moment. "I hadn't really thought about it."

Steve nods and stares at the coffee machine. "It'd be nice," he says after a while, nearly drowned out by the percolating water. "If you stayed."

"I'll bear that in mind," Tony says. Truthfully he'd expected it to be like it was before, with him on the outside and the rest of the team bunched in together. Even Bruce rarely stayed put for very long before the fighting started, staying with Tony for a month, maybe two, a few weeks here and there at the compound, but mostly doing his outreach work hidden away in areas with little to no contact with the rest of the world. But then, things have changed. He's lived with Natasha and Bruce pretty consistently for over a year, Steve and Bucky for a few months, and it's been pretty... well, nice. 

"It won't go back to like it was before," Steve says, like he's following the same mental path. 

"No," Tony agrees, though he really isn't sure on that score. For all their friend talk and the other stuff that's been going on, Tony's learned not to expect people to still be around once a crisis has passed. Hell, he often doesn't stick around himself. As much as the people that you're with when shit goes down will always be important, no one really wants the reminder of that shit when it's passed.

There's quiet for a while before Steve brings over Tony's coffee and sits back down beside him. Neither makes a move to go join the others in the living room.

"I thought about what Pepper said," Steve says out of the blue. It takes Tony a minute to catch up and when he does he's no less confused about why Steve's talking about it now. Steve deliberately meets and holds Tony's gaze. "She's wrong you know. I do respect you, and even when we were at each other's throats I respected what you were trying to do."

Tony blinks.

"I've always known you're a good man," Steve tells him. "Even when I was angry and didn't want to know it. Even when people I trust tried to tell me otherwise. Ever since New York. Before that, really. Since about two seconds after I found those weapons on the helicarrier and realised that just because I didn't like the way you said things, didn't mean you were wrong."

"You had a pretty funny way of showing it," Tony grumbles, because water under the bridge it might be, but he can still remember being dressed down by his childhood hero a dozen times in a single day. It hadn't been fun.

"In case you haven't noticed, I can be a pretty stubborn guy," Steve says with a wry smile. "It takes me a while to admit I was wrong."

"If ever," Tony snipes. He can't help it. He tries to soften it by nudging Steve's shoulder the way Steve's been doing to him lately.

If the way Steve's smile softens out into something closer to regretful is anything to go by, it only half works.

"But then pot, kettle etc." Tony takes a sip of his still scalding coffee to cover his awkwardness.

"Poor Bucky," Steve says. "He struggled enough when it was just me. Now he has two stubborn punks to worry about."

Tony barely suppresses a splutter, quietly choking back boiling coffee as he struggles to mask his reaction to the comparison. Steve smiles right at him, bright and affectionate, and Tony thinks  _'oh shit'_.

"So," Steve says teasingly. "You know you said there was a time you'd have 'climbed me like a tree'?"

Tony fights the urge to clear his throat, instead throwing out a wink and a smirk. "Just call me Tarzan."

Steve pinks just slightly at that. "I think Clint's one bad innuendo away from doing just that."

"Clint's always one bad innuendo away from something," Tony says. "Usually a fist to the face."

Steve laughs. "Yeah. Well. I was thinking..."

At that Tony's breath honest to Odin catches in his throat.

"I think the whole team's guessed I'm not... strictly a ladies man," Steve continues. "And it'd be... I dunno. I'd like to be honest about it for once. I never really took advantage of living in the future. Of being in a time when I don't have to worry about going to jail for who I am. I guess I'm saying..."

Tony actually scoots to the edge of his seat without meaning to.

"I want to come out," Steve says. "To the team at least. I don't know if it's the right time for the rest of the world."

"And as I'm the only team member who is currently marching in parades, you want to ask me for some support on that." Tony guesses, trying not to feel a little disappointed. He knew whatever it was he'd been hoping for was never going to be the reality.

Steve nods.

"You coming out to Bucky, too?" Tony double checks, because he assumes so, but knowing Steve's feelings for the guy and the implication Steve doesn't want said feelings revealed there's a chance he's wrong.

There's a beat where Steve doesn't quite seem to know where to look. "Yeah. I wouldn't tell the rest of the team but not him."

"You gonna tell him the rest of it?" Tony asks.

"Probably not."

"Why not?" Tony presses.

Steve huffs. "I know you have this idea that Bucky and me are some kind of star crossed lovers, but it was never like that between us. I've told you that. And to dump this on him now... What'd be the point?"

"The point is that maybe you two could find something good together, and really, when was the last time any of us got anything good?" Tony says.

Steve shakes his head. "I don't know whether to start with the part where I've told you before Bucky isn't interested like that, or the part where I'm sitting right next to the last good thing I got."

"You sweet talker, you," Tony jokes to cover the way he melts a little inside at that. Tony doesn't melt. He's not the melting kind. 

"Yeah, well, I'm friends with the world's smoothest talker," Steve says. "I guess he finally rubbed off on me."

Tony has to take a breath and hold it before he can say another word that isn't 'I wish'. 

Steve looks at him. "Not like that. You have a dirty mind."

"Thanks, it's one of my best qualities." Then, "Of course, if you did want me to rub off on you, all you have to do is ask- Hey, where are you going?"

 


End file.
